Ukraine striker Artem Dovbyk equalized three minutes before halftime Girona opened up a five-point gap over Real Madrid BARCELONA, Spain: Girona fought back for a 2-1 victory at Rayo Vallecano to ensure they kept their surprising lead of the Spanish league on Saturday. Rayo went ahead from Álvaro García’s goal in the sixth minute. But Ukraine striker Artem Dovbyk equalized three minutes before halftime when he was set up by countryman Viktor Tsyhankov for his team-high seventh goal of the season. Brazilian winger Sávio put the visitors ahead in the 65th when he finished off a Dovbyk shot that was blocked by goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski. Girona opened up a five-point gap over Real Madrid, which host Valencia later Saturday. Girona, which two seasons ago were in the second division, are partly controlled by Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi ownership even though they have one of the lowest payrolls in the league of just 51 million euros ($54 million). The numbers are impressive for the Catalonia team that are in only their fourth season in the top flight in club history. They have 11 wins in 13 rounds, including six wins in seven road games, and have five come-from-behind victories. Their only loss came at home to Madrid in September. “This team showed again that they do not give up, and we seem to play better when we are behind,” said midfielder Aleix García, who was called up by Spain this week. García said that his team can now aspire to bigger things than merely avoiding a relegation battle, which was their main aim in previous seasons. “We have bigger goals now. We can dream,” García said. “We deserve to be where we are. We have a very tight group. We are like a family. We have this connection on the field that I am not sure where it comes from, but it is there.”