Tribal Football

Real Sociedad into top half of LaLiga after win over Real Betis

Anthony Tomas
Real Sociedad's Mikel Oyarzabal celebrates after scoring
Real Sociedad's Mikel Oyarzabal celebrates after scoringLaLiga
Real Sociedad returned to winning ways in LaLiga, beating Real Betis 2-0 for their third consecutive home victory, as the visitors’ winless league run extended to four matches.

They may have picked up a victory over Ajax in midweek, but La Real were intent on putting things right on the domestic front after last weekend’s derby defeat to Athletic Club.

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And they made a great start, taking the lead inside 15 minutes before a shot had even been taken. Ander Barrenetxea found Aihen Munoz on the left, and his low cross was missed by Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva and diverted into his own goal by Diego Llorente.

The visitors’ response consisted of nothing other than a few harmless efforts that flew over the bar, and things got better for the home side just before the half-hour mark, when after a lengthy VAR check, referee Francisco Jose Hernández Maeso awarded a penalty for a foul by Romain Perraud on Mikel Oyarzabal.

The Spain international dusted himself off and rolled the spot-kick past Silva for his third of the season, and the Betis keeper’s half almost got much worse when he was caught in possession by Brais Mendez, but he wasn’t able to pick out a teammate in a shooting position.

With only three of the Sociedad’s last 20 league matches seeing both sides score, the signs weren’t good for Betis heading into the second half, and although they found the net in each of their previous nine games, they gave Alex Remiro nothing to do in the Sociedad goal until a simple catch from a Jesus Rodriguez header after the hour mark.

Cedric Bakambu was next to try his luck with his head as the match entered the final 20 minutes, but his effort from Giovani Lo Celso’s free-kick went just over the bar.

Incredibly, Umar Sadiq’s strike from a tight angle that struck the side netting was the hosts’ only shot of any kind other than the penalty, but Imanol Alguacil’s team had done enough to extend their unbeaten run against Los Verdiblancos to five matches. 

Manuel Pellegrini’s side, meanwhile, have now failed to win on any of their last six trips to the Basque Country.

 

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