Real Sociedad Shock Barcelona with Impressive 1-0 Victory at Reale Arena
Real Sociedad secured a remarkably impressive 1-0 win over LaLiga leaders Barcelona at the Reale Arena as Imanol Alguacil’s side earned just their second league triumph in 17 attempts against the Blaugrana.
Coming into the contest on the back of seven successive wins across all competitions, Hansi Flick’s side looked full of assurance in the opening exchanges. Barça thought they’d taken an early lead when Robert Lewandowski found the net with a well-taken finish but the Pole saw his goal chalked off for a slight offside. Grateful for that reprieve, the hosts grew into the match as the first half progressed and came close to a discovery, with Brais Méndez and Takefusa Kubo seeing a pair of efforts thwarted by Iñaki Peña.
Sociedad continued to cause Barça problems at the back and their pressure was duly rewarded in the 33rd minute when Luka Sučić’s flick-on was efficiently converted into the far corner by Sheraldo Becker. Armed with the momentum, Alguacil’s men squandered a glorious chance to double their lead before HT as Mikel Oyarzabal fired wastefully wide from Becker’s inch-perfect delivery.
Having lost four of their six league matches on home soil this season, Sociedad looked determined to press home their superiority at the start of the second half. However, Peña came to Barça’s rescue once again, saving smartly from Oyarzabal’s close-range effort, while at the other end, Fermin López missed over a rare opening for the subpar visitors.
The match remained tantalisingly poised heading into the final 20 minutes, with Ander Barrenetxea wasting another promising opportunity for the hosts when his scuffed strike bobbled narrowly wide of the near post. Sociedad’s wastefulness in front of goal kept the Blaugrana’s hopes of a late leveller alive, but despite seeing plenty of the ball in the closing stages, the visitors failed to create anything of note, falling to a first defeat in eight matches. As for Alguacil’s men, they move into the top half of LaLiga, two points adrift of the European spots.