Tag: Real Sociedad

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LA LIGA: PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG SENDS BARCELONA INTO SECOND IN LALIGA TABLE

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired Barcelona back into second place in LaLiga after a narrow victory at Real Sociedad.

The former Arsenal striker’s 11th goal for the club secured a 1-0 win at the Reale Seguros Stadium which leaves them 15 points adrift of leaders Real Madrid.

Ousmane Dembele had already hit the post when Aubameyang headed Barca into an 11th-minute lead, and Frenkie De Jong and the Gabon international both went close to a second before the break.

Sociedad fought for a way back into the game in a tight second half, but were unable to find a way past keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen as the Catalan side bounced back from their shock home defeat by Cadiz.

Sevilla sit third after Jesus Corona struck twice in an eventful 3-2 win at lowly Levante.

Corona headed the visitors into a 14th-minute lead, but they were soon pegged back by Jose Luis Morales’ penalty after Diego Carlos had handled, only for Corona to double his tally with 27 minutes gone.

Morales passed up the opportunity to level for a second time when he missed a 71st-minute spot-kick, and Levante were made to pay when Jules Kounde headed the visitors further ahead nine minutes from time, although substitute Roberto Soldado made it interesting when he scored with three minutes remaining.

Ten-man Athletic Bilbao survived a tense conclusion to see out a 3-2 victory at Cadiz.

Bilbao looked to have the game won by half-time as they raced into a 3-0 lead after Raul Garcia had set them on their way within three minutes of kick-off.

Iker Muniain doubled their tally with 22 minutes gone, converting the rebound after keeper Jeremias Ledesma had saved his penalty, and Mikel Vesga made it three 12 minutes before the break.

Substitute Lucas Perez pulled a goal back for the home side 11 minutes after the restart within seconds of his introduction, and Vega’s 71st-minute dismissal for a second bookable offence provided a further boost.

Ruben Sobrino further reduced the deficit with three minutes left on the clock and fellow substitute Fali was denied an equaliser deep into stoppage time by the upright as Cadiz launched a late blitz.

Sergi Guardiola edged Rayo Vallecano seven points clear of the relegation zone as a 1-0 win at Espanyol ended their wait for a league victory at the 14th attempt.

Guardiola broke the deadlock two minutes before half-time to give the visitors the lead, and Rayo, who last tasted LaLiga success in December, might have won more comfortably had Alvaro Garcia’s shot not come back off the post on the hour.

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LA LIGA: BARCELONA BEGINS POST-MESSI ERA WITH WIN OVER REAL SOCIEDAD, ATLETICO MADRID VICTORIOUS IN ILL-TEMPERED CLASH

Barcelona started life without Lionel Messi by defeating Real Sociedad 4-2 in their LaLiga opener at the Camp Nou on Sunday even if fans admitted it felt like “a leap into the unknown”.

Captain Gerard Pique gave them a 19th minute lead with his 50th goal for the club.

Martin Braithwaite found the net in first half injury time and in the 59th minute. Sergi Roberto added a fourth in the last minute of the game.

Just over 20,000 fans were in attendance as crowds returned for the first time since the pandemic.

However, they had to hold their breath at one stage when Sociedad came back from 3-0 down to get to 3-2 thanks to goals from 20-year-old Julen Lobete in the 82nd minute and a 30-metre free-kick from skipper Mikel Oyarzabal three minutes later.

Six-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi called time on his two-decade career at Barcelona last week and moved to Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi’s memory lingered heavy over the Camp Nou on Sunday despite the removal of a giant photograph of the Argentine superstar from the entrance in the wake of his move to France.

Some banners were in place well before kick-off venting the fans anger towards president Joan Laporta.

One read “Laporta, Barca is not your business”, while another proclaimed “Barca yes, Laporta no!”

“It was a big emotional blow,” said 23-year-old Barca fan Adria De Lucas.

“I was in my room when I saw the news. I started sending messages to all my friends, and no one believed it. It was emotionally hard.”

The supporter added: “It’s a leap into the unknown (without Messi). We will see what happens.”

Inside the Camp Nou, fans made the most of their return after 18 months, chanting “Messi! Messi!”.

Banners expressed their “eternal gratitude”.

“The supporters are with us, they want to see football,” said Pique.

“We knew they were going to react that way. We all know what Leo represents, but everything changes and we have to keep going.

“We will be very competitive and we will fight for titles to the end. We will not have his talent, but we have proven that we can all play together.”

LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid got their season underway with a 2-1 win at Celta Vigo.

Angel Correa gave Atletico the lead after 23 minutes after being set up by Thomas Lemar.

Correa added a second goal in the 64th minute just five minutes after Iago Aspas had pulled Celta level from the penalty spot.

However, the game was marred by a mass brawl in the closing stages following a foul on Atletico striker Luis Suarez.

Red cards were brandished for Hugo Mallo of Celta and Mario Hermoso of Atletico.

In Sunday’s late game, Sevilla defeated Rayo Vallecano 3-0 with Moroccan international Youssef En-Nesyri scoring a first-half penalty before new Argentine recruit Erik Lamela grabbed two.

Vallecano played 75 minutes a man short after goalkeeper Luca Zidane, the son of French football legend Zinedine, was red-carded for bringing down Oussama Idrissi in the move which led to the penalty.

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EUROPA LEAGUE: UNITED THRASH REAL SOCIEDAD, GARETH BALE STARS IN TOTTENHAM WIN

Bruno Fernandes scored twice as Manchester United romped to a 4-0 victory over Real Sociedad in their Europa League last-32 first leg on Thursday, while Gareth Bale impressed for Tottenham in a 4-1 thrashing of Austrian side Wolfsberg. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United are all but into the last 16, with four ‘away’ goals to take into the return game in a week’s time, after the first leg was played in Turin due to coronavirus travel restrictions. “We know 4-0 is a good result but we have to be aware of what they can do,” Fernandes told BT Sport. “My target is to score the most goals I can, that is my position. The only target is to win trophies.”

The Premier League outfit grabbed the lead in the 27th minute when Fernandes pounced on a defensive mix-up to slot in from Marcus Rashford’s clipped pass.

Solskjaer’s men doubled their advantage 12 minutes into the second period as Fernandes stroked home his 21st goal of the season.

The effort was initially ruled out for offside before the linesman’s decision was overruled by VAR.

United continued to play at a pace Sociedad could not deal with and Rashford finally got his goal in the 65th minute following a blistering counter-attack started by goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

The tie was surely put to bed in the final minute of normal time as Daniel James raced clear and fired into the bottom corner.

BALE STARS
Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett had said on Wednesday the Wales winger was “towards the end of his career”, after Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho had questioned the player’s Instagram post suggesting he was in good health despite being unavailable for Spurs’ FA Cup defeat at Everton last week.

But Bale notched his first Tottenham assist since April 2013 to tee up Son Heung-min for the opening goal in Budapest against Wolfsberg, before drilling in the second before the half-hour mark.

A wonderful individual strike from Lucas Moura extended Spurs’ first-half lead, and although Michael Liendl pulled one back for the Austrians with a second-half penalty, the English club have one foot in the next round after Carlos Vinicius’ 88th-minute goal.

“I have a really close relationship with him (Bale),” said Son. “I’m very happy he’s getting game time and scored a goal and got an assist. I really enjoy playing with him.”

Mourinho has never lost a knockout tie in the competition, which he won with Porto in 2003 and Man United in 2017.

AC MILAN, ARSENAL HELD

AC Milan, who have not reached the quarter-finals of any European competition since the 2011-12 Champions League, had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Red Star Belgrade.

Milan, who face Inter in a top-of-the-table Serie A derby on Sunday, were pegged back as Milan Pavkov netted a dramatic 93rd-minute leveller for Red Star, who played the closing stages with 10 men.

Arsenal youngster Bukayo Saka continued his excellent season as his sixth goal of the campaign cancelled out Pizzi’s penalty in a 1-1 draw against Benfica at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

“I feel like I’m improving every game. I’m trying to impress, trying to learn,” said Saka. “I just want to keep progressing.”

Ligue 1 leaders Lille conceded twice in the final three minutes to lose 2-1 at home to Ajax.

Timothy Weah, son of former Ballon d’Or winner George, put the French team ahead with 18 minutes to play, but Dusan Tadic’s penalty and a goal from teenager Brian Brobbey put the Dutch champions on top after the first leg.

“It’s good that I scored but I’m not happy because we didn’t win,” Weah told RMC Sport.

Leicester, sitting third in the Premier League, were held to a goalless draw at Slavia Prague, but there was plenty of excitement elsewhere.

Bayer Leverkusen fought back from three goals down only to lose 4-3 to Young Boys in Bern, while Olympiakos beat PSV Eindhoven 4-2 in Piraeus

Borna Barisic netted two penalties, including the winning goal in the last minute, as Steven Gerrard’s Rangers snatched a thrilling 4-3 victory at Royal Antwerp.

Molde came back from 3-1 down to draw with Hoffenheim, while Edin Dzeko’s early goal helped Roma to a 2-0 win at 10-man Braga and Napoli lost 2-0 to Granada.

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EUROPA LEAGUE: SOCIEDAD’S ADNAN JANUZAJ KEEN TO START AGAINST FORMER TEAM MANCHESTER UNITED

Real Sociedad winger Adnan Januzaj is relishing the chance to show the club he loves what they are missing when lining up against Manchester United in the Europa League.

The world appeared to be at his feet when he broke into the Red Devils’ first team as teenager, marking his full debut with a match-winning brace against Sunderland in 2013.

But Januzaj’s blistering start eventually fizzled out, with his stock falling and Jose Mourinho taking the decision to sell him after forgettable loan stints at Borussia Dortmund and Sunderland.

The Belgium international joined Sociedad in 2017 for a fee rising to £9.8million, with United including a buyback clause for a player that has been rejuvenated in Spain and is excited to be facing his former team.

“I love United a lot,” Januzaj said ahead of Thursday’s Europa League first-leg meeting, which is taking place in Turin due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“They’re my favourite club, and even to this day I watch every single game of theirs because I love the club.

“Obviously, when I saw that I would have to play against United, it was a bit of a weird feeling.

“But at the end of the day I want to play them and try to beat them, to show them also what they have missed and stuff like that.”

Januzaj swapped Belgium for the north-west of England aged 15 and soon knew he had made the right decision, saying his best memories to date came during his time with United.

There are still a few familiar faces at the club from his time at Old Trafford such as Paul Pogba, who he “grew up with” and has kept in close contact with throughout the years.

“We play PlayStation together so we don’t really talk (then) – but sometimes I tease him a little bit via video call (about this tie) because we are in contact a lot,” Januzaj told UEFA.

“It will be weird (to play against him) because off the pitch we are amazing friends, and we have such good, close contact.

“We have known each other from a young age. We grew up at United together, we’ve gone through a lot of things.

“So having him in front of me – it’s good that we don’t play in the same position!

“I don’t think we will have much contact between each other, but obviously for my part I want to win that game.”

In-form Sociedad are fifth in LaLiga but head into the tie as underdogs, with United the bookmakers’ favourites to win the competition let alone progress from this last-32 tie.

“If we beat United, then I think we have a bigger chance – the biggest chance to win the Europa League,” Januzaj added.

“For me, United right now – the United of today – is the toughest opponent in the Europa League that you could get.

“We know we can make everything happen in this Europa League campaign and we have a lot of things to show people.”

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JANUZAJ STARS AS REAL SOCIEDAD EXTENDS THEIR LEAD ON LA LIGA TABLE.

Real Sociedad moved three points clear at the top of La Liga after Alexander Isak’s goal proved the difference in a 1-0 win over Cadiz.

Isak headed in Adnan Januzaj’s cross shortly after the hour mark at the Ramon Carranza to secure a sixth consecutive league victory for La Real.

An excellent start to the season shows no sign of abating, with Imanol Alguacil’s side now three points clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid, albeit having played two games more.

They have scored an impressive 21 goals from their opening 10 matches, the highest tally in the league, and conceded only four.

After travelling to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday, Real Sociedad play at home to Villarreal, who sit third and are the league’s other surprise high-fliers.

Defeat means Cadiz sit sixth, just above Sevilla after a strong start for the newly-promoted side.

Getafe, who had Irish youngster Ryan Nolan among their substitutes, were earlier held to a goalless draw by Eibar.

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DAVID SILVA STARS AS REAL SOCIEDAD RETURNS TO FIRST ON LA LIGA STANDINGS.

David Silva scored his first goal for Real Sociedad to help them go back to the top of La Liga after a 4-1 win over Celta Vigo.

Silva headed La Real in front at Balaidos for his first goal since he left Manchester City in the summer, and his first in La Liga since he departed Valencia 11 years ago.

Mikel Oyarzabal made it two with his fifth of the season, a tally that also makes him the league’s top scorer so far.

Willian Jose then hit the net twice in the second half, either side of Iago Aspas converting a penalty, which gave Celta brief hope of a comeback.

Celta’s Jose Fontan was sent off for a second yellow card late on, to cap a disappointing afternoon for the home side, who sit 17th, without a win in six games.

But another impressive victory for Real Sociedad means they have won their last four league games on the bounce, with scorelines of 3-0, 3-0, 4-1 and 4-1.

They return to the top of the table, one point ahead Real Madrid, who had temporarily taken first place after their 4-1 win over Huesca on Saturday.

Atletico Madrid are third, three points off the leaders but with two games in hand.

Real Betis had earlier beaten Elche 3-1 to climb to seventh. Elche drop to 10th.