Despite allowing Atletico Madrid to creep up behind them in the standings with a fifth away loss on the bounce last time out, Girona’s home record speaks for itself, and they made sure Cadiz had first-hand experience of that just nine minutes in.
Eric Garcia etched his name on the scoresheet for the first time at Montilivi as he headed in Savio’s excellent ball from the right, beginning a spell of momentum for the hosts. Yangel Herrera thumped against the woodwork just moments later, before the search for a second continued with Yan Couto smashing over at the far post.
Those misses appeared only to motivate Míchel’s men, however, and Ivan Martin was soon slipped through by Miguel Gutierrez to bury a curling effort inside the near post.
The vastly superior home side continued to dominate until the break, and chances of Cadiz winning a first match on the road since early April last year – a run of 20 matches – looked increasingly slim as Savio’s looping effort dropped against the bar.
The restart heralded a brief resurgence from the away side, mostly centred around half-time substitute Chris Ramos, who was the first in yellow to test Paulo Gazzaniga. However, any doubts about the result were put to bed with 20 minutes remaining by Artem Dovbyk, who turned on a sixpence in the area to fire in and extend his lead at the top of the LaLiga scoring charts.
Cadiz responded with a goal back through Gonzalo Escalante, who slid Roger Marti’s cross over the line despite Gazzaniga’s best efforts, but it was mere seconds before the deficit returned to three.
Portu beat an onrushing Conan Ledesma to a long ball and finished into the empty net, supplying the perfect end to a famous night at Montilivi. Although it was already all but guaranteed by Valencia’s defeat earlier in the day, the result has the significance of confirming Girona a European spot for the first time, although they will surely be aiming for the most prestigious of the three competitions.
With their sights set a little lower in avoiding the drop, Cadiz have just six matches remaining to extend their current four-season stay in the top flight.
