Güler scored the only goal against Real Sociedad (0-1) on the first merengue occasion
MADRID, 26 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid won this Friday 0-1 on their visit to Real Sociedad, thanks to a goal from Arda Güler, in the opening match of matchday 33 of LaLiga EA Sports, the last match before the meringues play in Munich (Germany) the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals against FC Bayern.
At the Reale Arena, the locals began in better tone thanks to the work of Javi Galán from the left side. His cross in the first minutes was not caught by Merengue goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, although without consequences, and then Galán himself looked for Take Kubo’s header with another cross on foot, which also did not arrive.
Kubo himself had a scoring chance fifteen minutes into the game. After Ander Barrenetxea stole the ball from Güler, in a possible foul, he did a slalom on the edge of the rival area and passed to the left wing, where the Japanese appeared running to shoot low and with his left foot, an action deflected by Kepa to corner.
The intense rain that fell on San Sebastián did not scare the ‘txuri-urdin’ team, which continued searching for the goal occupied by Kepa. In the 21st minute, a struggle by Mikel Oyarzabal inside the Madrid area came to nothing, and then he dribbled past two defenders on the front line until he passed to Beñat Turrientes, whose subsequent right foot went over the crossbar.
Paradoxically, it was the prelude to 0-1. About half an hour into the match, Aurélien Tchouameni from the midfield opened long towards the right side. Having caught Galán’s back, Dani Carvajal appeared and crossed low on the run and with the first touch; The ball crossed the area, Igor Zubeldia was unable to clear it and Güler finished with his left foot, also first, and beat Álex Remiro.
Shortly after taking the center, Real Sociedad responded through Oyarzabal, whose shot close to the right post was repelled by Kepa, a foot away from the grass. In the next play, Tchouameni lost the ball under pressure from Barrenetxea on the edge of his own area and that forged the momentary tie for Real Sociedad, annulled at the request of the VAR.
The main referee, José Luis Munuera Montero, had not called a foul in Barrenetxea’s steal, which preceded a first shot by Oyarzabal, and in his rejection of another low shot by Kubo, this one was successful. But the television review by the ‘trencilla’ made him correct his decision, declaring that protested foul on Tchouameni.
Although there were no more surprises until the first half ran out, Imanol Alguacil’s pupils returned from the locker room with impetus. In his first attack, Turrientes took advantage of a pass on the edge of the Merengue area and volleyed hard to the right side of the goal; Kepa, once again well positioned, intervened skillfully to send the ball for a corner.
Time passed very calmly and the team coached by Carlo Ancelotti imposed its rhythm, to which the home team took a while to respond. It was in the 73rd minute, thanks to a long-range shot by Mikel Merino that tripped over a Real Madrid defender; The ball fell at the feet of Oyarzabal, who scored with a subtle touch, but in an offside position.
The carousel of changes, with Ancelotti perhaps already thinking about Munich, extinguished a match that experienced its last scare on one occasion for the visitors, with Eduardo Camavinga putting Remiro in trouble with a left-footed shot. This victory helped the merengue team reach 84 points, very close to becoming champion. For its part, Real Sociedad was left with 51 points, still in sixth place threatened by Betis (48 pts.) and Valencia (47 pts.), seventh and eighth respectively.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: REAL SOCIEDAD, 0 – REAL MADRID, 1 (0-1, at half-time).
–ALIGNMENTS:
REAL SOCIEDAD: Remiro; Odriozola (Elustondo, min.75), Zubeldia, Le Normand (André Silva, min.89), Galán; Turrientes (Zakharyan, min.67), Zubimendi, Merino, Barrenetxea (Becker, min.75); Kubo and Oyarzabal.
REAL MADRID: Kepa; Carvajal, Militão, Nacho, Fran García (Camavinga, min.76); Tchouameni, Ceballos (Valverde, min.68), Modric (L.Vázquez, min.84); Brahim (Rüdiger, min.76), Güler (Vinícius, min.68) and Joselu.
–GOL:
0-1, min.29: Laughs.
–REFEREE: Munuera Montero (C. Andaluz). Yellow carded Le Normand (min.40), Zubeldia (min.70) and Merino (min.87) by Real Sociedad, and Güler (min.16), Fran García (min.56), Tchouameni (min.83) and Nacho (min.88) at Real Madrid.
–STADIUM: Reale Arena, 37,109 spectators.
–INCIDENTS: In the run-up to the match, former soccer player David Silva was awarded the gold and diamond insignia of Real Sociedad.