Several Blues enjoyed victories, but it was the young Spanish midfielder who caught the eye with his strike in Girona’s midweek clash.
The jury may be out on whether scoring was at the forefront of Garcia’s mind when he curled in a free-kick from a deep position on the left, but the centre evaded everyone including the ‘keeper to give Girona the lead.
Pablo Maffeo completed 90 minutes in that game as he did the on Sunday, when the Red and Whites failed to replicate their winning form, losing out 2-0 at home to Espanyol.
Jason Denayer was the only other European-based player to gain three points as he came back into the side to help Galatasaray to a 3-2 victory away at Alanyaspor.
It’s a result that could see the Belgian defender lift the Turkish Super Lig, with Galatasaray top with four games remaining.
In Holland there was no reason for our NAC Breda cohort to celebrate as they went down 2-1 at Sparta Rotterdam.
Angelino, Paolo Fernandes, Manu Garcia and Pablo Mari all played the full game, with Fernandes twice going close.
Skipper, Mari, and left-back, Angelino, also saw chances beaten away by the keeper as fellow relegation strugglers Sparta moved closer to Breda, who are teetering just above the drop zone.
There was more defeat in the Netherlands as Aaron Nemane’s Go Ahead Eagles lost 2-1 to RKC Waalwijk, with the young forward coming off the bench for the final 21 minutes, while in Spain’s second tier, Yaw Yeboah played the last half hour in Real Oviedo’s 2-1 defeat at home to Vallodolid.
Elsewhere, Marlos Moreno made his first appearance for Flamengo in the Brazilian Serie A, with the Colombian winger a late introduction in the 2-0 win over America Mineiro.
Meanwhile, there were a couple of positives results for our boys plying their trade in the English Football League.
Jacob Davenport went close with a couple of strikes as he helped Burton Albion fightback to beat Sunderland 2-1, a crucial victory in their quest for survival.
Angus Gunn Kept his 15th clean sheet of the season at Norwich, who drew 0-0 away at play-off chasing Preston North End, but it was a tough afternoon for Bersant Celina who was withdrawn after 56 minutes as Ipswich Town’s went down by four goals at home to Aston Villa.
Rodney Kongolo also suffered defeat with Doncaster Rovers, who were eclipsed by one goal against Oxford United, though City loanees Isaac Buckley-Ricketts and Ash Smith-Brown were not involved for the U’s.
In the Premier League, Joe Hart conceded four as West Ham posted only one goal in reply against Arsenal and north of the boarder, more Blues faced off.
Hibernian’s Brandon Barker came off six minutes before Patrick Roberts was introduced for Celtic and the Hibees’ 2-1 victory prevented the Bhoys from clinching the league title.
