Actual Sociedad’s gamers have fun their second purpose scored by Portuguese ahead Goncalo Guedes in an exciting battle in opposition to Barcelona. Photograph: AFP
SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN:
Actual Sociedad broken Barcelona’s title defence ambitions as Goncalo Guedes gave them a shock 2-1 La Liga victory on Sunday as Hansi Flick’s facet fell to a primary defeat in 12 matches.
The Catalan giants, who hit the woodwork 4 occasions and had two targets disallowed, now solely lead rivals Actual Madrid by a single level on the prime of the desk after Alvaro Arbeloa’s facet beat Levante on Saturday.
Hosts Actual Sociedad, now unbeaten in 4 video games below new American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, had Carlos Soler despatched off late on however managed to carry on to triumph and climb as much as eighth.
“I feel we deserved to win immediately, we had a whole lot of possibilities, however in the long run you must put them away,” Barca midfielder Frenkie de Jong informed DAZN.
“We performed effectively however we did not win… their goalkeeper had an excellent sport.”
Sociedad shot-stopper Alex Remiro made a number of essential saves.
“Three nice factors and an awesome sport,” stated Remiro.
“We have began this yr in nice type… that is the power we’ve got, how we have modified (just lately).”
In a frantic begin to a compelling sport on the wet Reale Area, each groups had targets dominated out.
La Actual had the ball within the web inside 30 seconds when Mikel Oyarzabal headed dwelling Guedes’s cross, however had strayed offside.
On the different finish, Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez drilled dwelling from vary however Dani Olmo had dedicated a foul within the build-up and it was dominated out.
With teenage winger Lamine Yamal eager to tackle defenders, Barca bought in typically down the best flank. The 18-year-old teed up Olmo who fired excessive over the bar when he might need despatched the Catalans forward.
Yamal discovered the online himself however the purpose was dominated out for an especially tight offside, earlier than Actual Sociedad took the lead in opposition to the run of play.
Oyarzabal lashed dwelling Guedes’s cross with a blistering volley inside Joan Garcia’s close to submit.
Yamal was felled simply inside the world earlier than half-time however though the referee pointed to the spot, a VAR evaluation confirmed that the teen was offside once more and it was cancelled out.
Remiro heroics
Barcelona turned up the stress within the second half and Actual Sociedad have been left relying on Remiro and the body of the purpose to maintain the Catalans at bay.
Olmo crashed a shot in opposition to the submit from Lopez’s cross after which Remiro denied the Barca midfielder with a effective near-post save.
Remiro then tipped substitute Robert Lewandowski’s header in opposition to the crossbar with the save of the night time.
One other Barca substitute, Marcus Rashford, ultimately pulled the champions degree, heading Yamal’s cross dwelling after 70 minutes.
Nonetheless, the hosts instantly regained their benefit after Barca goalkeeper Garcia initially saved Carlos Soler’s shot. The midfielder was in a position to collect the rebound and cross for Guedes, who fired La Actual forward once more.
They need to have gotten a 3rd when Garcia, out of his purpose, had no likelihood of saving Oyarzabal’s effort however Pau Cubarsi headed the ball off the road.
Barcelona got here inside centimetres of an equaliser when Joao Cancelo, on his second debut for the membership, crossed for Jules Kounde, who headed in opposition to the crossbar.
Soler was dismissed for an unpleasant foul on Pedri earlier than 9 minutes of stoppage time have been added on.
Rashford hit the submit straight from a nook kick as Barca pushed till the tip however couldn’t discover a manner by way of.
