Girona substitute Gabriel Misehouy struck in the 72nd minute to rescue a 1-1 draw at Real Betis in their opening game of LaLiga on Thursday.

Betis started well and opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a bullet header by defender Marc Bartra from a corner.

Abel Ruiz almost pulled Los Blanquivermells level on the hour-mark, darting in behind Betis' defence, only to poke his first-time shot against the near post.

However, Girona managed to find the equaliser with a close-range finish by Misehouy, who swept a neat finish into the far-bottom corner in his first game for the club.

Both teams had chances to win it late on, though Betis in particular will rue theirs as Chimy Avila's volley rattled Paulo Gazzaniga's goal frame before Nabil Fekir flashed an effort just wide in stoppage time.

Data Debrief: Spoils shared

Betis have not lost their first game of the season in any of the last five campaigns in LaLiga (winning three, drawing two), since a 1-2 loss against Real Valladolid in August 2019. 

Bartra's first-half goal was not enough to get them a win in the end, but he scored his 12th goal in LaLiga (seven with Betis, five for Barcelona), half of them being headers, with five of those six coming from corners.

Meanwhile, after losing his first four games against Betis in LaLiga between 2018 and 2023, Míchel is now unbeaten in three against them in the top-flight (one win, two draws).