GIRONA, Spain, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Real Madrid's struggles continued on Sunday as they battled to a 1-1 draw at Girona in LaLiga, as Kylian Mbappe's second-half penalty cancelled out Azzedine Ounahi's opener, extending Real's winless run in Spain's top flight to three matches.
The draw sees Real drop to second in the standings on 33 points, one behind leaders Barcelona, and follows previous stalemates at Rayo Vallecano and Elche.
Villarreal sit third with 32 points, while Atletico Madrid are fourth on 31, with only three points separating the top four teams.
Real dominated large portions of the match but lacked the final touch around Girona's box, failing to create significant danger in the first half despite Paulo Gazzaniga making good saves to deny Eder Militao and Vinicius Jr.
Girona, sitting deep in a compact defensive setup, frustrated the visitors while showing promise on the counter-attack.
The breakthrough came just before halftime, two minutes after Real were left fuming over an Mbappe effort that was controversially disallowed for handball in the build-up following a VAR review.
Girona capitalised on the momentum shift when Viktor Tsygankov led a rapid counter-attack down the right channel. The Ukrainian delivered a pinpoint low cross to Ounahi, who fired a thunderous strike into the top corner from just inside the box, leaving Thibaut Courtois with no chance.
After the interval, Real displayed greater urgency in their pursuit of an equaliser. However, it was Girona who nearly doubled their lead in the 56th minute.
Ivan Martin played through Vladyslav Vanat, who found himself one-on-one with Courtois. The Belgian goalkeeper produced a stunning one-handed reflex save to deny Vanat's low shot.
Real's persistence eventually paid off in the 67th minute. Vinicius Jr's mazy run from the left led to a foul inside the box, earning the visitors a penalty. Mbappe stepped up to calmly slot his effort into the bottom-left corner, narrowly beyond the reach of Gazzaniga.
Real pressed for a winner, with Gazzaniga making a string of saves to deny efforts from Vinicius Jr and Mbappe, while Courtois also had to work his magic to deny Joel Roca in a Girona counter-attack.
Real complained heavily following another penalty claim in the 80th minute when Rodrygo appeared to be tripped inside the box by Roca, but the referee waved play on.
Mbappe squandered a golden opportunity in added time, curling a strike from inside the box just wide of the target.
(Reporting by Fernando KallasEditing by Toby Davis)
