Real Madrid won 1-0 at Real Sociedad in the early match of round 33 of La Liga, taking another step towards the championship.
At 19 years and 61 days old, Arda Guler became the second youngest player to score for Real Madrid in his first La Liga match. Photo: Real Madrid CF
With the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals at Bayern Munich Stadium taking place next Tuesday, Real Madrid is given the opportunity to kick off round 33 of La Liga early on the morning of April 27 (Vietnam time).
As a guest against Real Sociedad, coach Carlo Ancelotti replaced almost the entire starting lineup. Notably, goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga started, midfielder Eder Militao made his first start since recovering from injury, and young player Arda Guler also made his first start in La Liga.
Perhaps because of that, the home team created a better position in almost the entire match. The pressure soon mounted on Kepa when Takefusa Kubo forced the Spanish goalkeeper to reflexively save from a close-angle shot after 15 minutes of play.
Madridistas’ hearts also jumped out of their chests when Mikel Oyarzabal fell in the penalty area after a dispute with Fran Garcia, but the referee did not give the home team a penalty kick.
Sociedad dominated, but the “White Vulture’s instinct” helped Real Madrid score after nearly half an hour of play, with the first shot.
In the 29th minute, Nacho Fenandez played a long ball to Dani Carvajal down the right wing. With a perfect touch, the Spanish defender stretched across, completely eliminating the Sociedad defense but right on Guler’s momentum.
The 19-year-old Turkish player finished one-touch past goalkeeper Alex Remiro, scoring his own second goal in his first season at Real Madrid.
Real Madrid extended its unbeaten streak in La Liga to 27. Photo: Real Madrid CF
Of course, the home team rose strongly and Kubo put the ball into the opponent’s net just 3 minutes later. However, VAR stepped in and determined that Ander Barrenetxea had fouled Aurelien Tchouameni in the previous ball steal.
A few seconds after the second half started, Benat Turrientes was the one who came very close to the equalizer with a dangerous shot, but Kepa was once again alert enough to block it.
In the rest of the match, opportunities did not come too much at both ends of the field. Sociedad’s goal was once again disallowed when Oyarzabal was offside before receiving the ball.
Kubo, Sheraldo Becker and then Oyarzabal had a chance, but when they beat Kepa, the ball went wide of the goal.
With Real Madrid, Eduardo Camavinga also had a good opportunity with a comfortable position in the penalty area to finish but could not beat Remiro.
Quite surprisingly, Sociedad only won 1 of the last 8 home matches in La Liga. Meanwhile, Real Madrid extended its unbeaten streak in La Liga to 27, temporarily increasing the gap with Barcelona to 14 points.
The Royal team needs 4 more points in the remaining 5 matches to win the 36th La Liga championship in history.