Barcelona beats Girona in stoppage time and Flick to miss clasico after sending off

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Substitute Ronald Araújo snatched Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Girona in stoppage time in La Liga on Saturday and ended a mini losing streak before the clasico at Real Madrid next week.

The central defender made the move of a striker when he slid in front of his marker as they raced to the near post and skillfully redirected a low pass from Frenkie de Jong to ignite the home crowd.

Araújo's last-gasp goal came moments after Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was sent off with two quick yellow cards apparently for complaining that the referee had not added more than four minutes of injury time.

The referee's report said Flick protested one of his decisions with ironic clapping and with “gestures of disapproval.” Flick said his actions were not directed at the referee.

The sending off means Flick won’t be on the sideline for the first clasico of the season.

With his team stymied in attack and scorers Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Ferran Torres unavailable because of injury, Flick sent on Araújo in the 82nd and ordered him to join the attack in their desperate search for a winner.

“I am really happy for Ronald because he always plays with his whole heart for this team,” Flick said. “I spoke to him to ask if it was possible for him to play at this position."

Araújo said that he “didn't hesitate” when his coach asked him if he could help in attack.

“Girona took it to us really well and had several chances, but the important thing is that we stuck with it to the end and showed the fight that our fans want from us,” Araújo said. “We knew that we were coming from two tough losses but that with hunger and work we knew that we could win before a big week.”

Before the international break, Barcelona lost to Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the Champions League and was stunned at Sevilla 4-1 in La Liga.

Barcelona moved into the league lead with a one-point advantage over Madrid before it plays Getafe on Sunday. Before the trip to the capital, Barcelona hosts Olympiakos on Tuesday in the Champions League.

Pedri González gave Barcelona the lead with an exquisite goal in the 13th, sliding an angled ball back across the area and inside the near post without looking at the target.

But Barcelona’s control collapsed after Axel Witsel equalized seven minutes later with an acrobatic bicycle kick to whip a loose high ball off the turf and past Wojciech Szczęsny.

Only Szczęsny’s saves and some poor marksmanship by Girona kept the visitors from taking the lead before halftime after it was able to mount repeated counterattacks after Barcelona lost possession. Cristian Portu hit the post, Bryan Gil squandered a point-blank chance, and Witsel grazed the posts.

Girona then needed goalie Paulo Gazzaniga to turn back shots by Fermín López and Marcus Rashord before Araújo clinched the result.

“It's a hard blow because in the last minutes they could only hurt us with crosses,” Girona coach Míchel Sánchez said. “We cleared two and the third one they put it in.”

Lamine Yamal played just over an hour for Barcelona after he returned from a groin area injury that forced him to miss the loss at Sevilla and two World Cup qualifiers for Spain.

Flick gave a La Liga debut to 17-year-old forward Toni Fernández in his starting lineup. He was substituted for Fermín at halftime. Dani Olmo was also out injured.

Antony netted a double, including an injury-time equalizer, to lead Real Betis back from two goals down in a 2-2 draw at Villarreal.

Atletico Madrid edged Osasuna 1-0 at home after Giuliano Simeone set up Thiago Almada to score midway through the second half.

Mallorca escaped last place after Mateo Joseph scored twice in six minutes to fuel a 3-1 win at Sevilla.

All four games started with players not playing until 15 seconds after kickoff to show their opposition to La Liga's plan to hold a regular season game between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami in December.

During Sevilla's game, a group of fans displayed a large banner denouncing the recent suicide of a teenage girl who suffered bullying at a Seville high school. The club also sent a message of support for the victims of bullying on X.

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