Girona's Artem Dovbyk Nets Hat-Trick, Propels Team to La Liga Summit

Artem Dovbyk, a striker for Girona, scored a hat-trick in the first half of the team's 5-1 victory against Sevilla at home on Sunday, helping the hosts take back the top place in La Liga.

Unexpected gift With 52 points, Girona is the only team at the top. Real Madrid, who defeated Almeria earlier on Sunday and still have one game remaining, is one spot below them. With 16 points, Sevilla is still in 17th place, one point above the relegation zone.

The victory also established an all-time club points record for a premier league season for the Catalan team. Girona coach Michel said, "We are very happy because we have achieved one of our goals, which was to reach 52 points. The first was to avoid relegation."

"Now that we have the goal of competing in European events, we will gradually assess if we can achieve the third objective, which was placing in the top three."

Isaac Romero's goal after ten minutes gave the visitors an early lead, but it was short-lived as Dovbyk's imposing header from Savio's cross in the six-yard box drew it 1-1 in the thirteenth.

After a break, Dovbyk gave Girona the lead two minutes later with a ball from Portu. The Ukraine international then scored his hat-trick in the 19th minute with a beautiful low effort for his 14th league goal of the year.

Prior to this, Barcelona defeated Real Betis 4-2 in overtime thanks to goals from substitute Joao Felix and striker Ferran Torres, who completed his hat-trick, which relieved manager Xavi Hernandez of some of the burden.

Barca was once again up against it but salvaged a crucial victory after being destroyed by their fierce rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final and fighting through a comeback victory against Unionistas to progress to the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.

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