MADRID, 13 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Sociedad established itself in third position in the 2022-2023 LaLiga Santander table after beating RCD Espanyol 3-2 this Monday, after a game that had emotion until the end despite the fact that the royalists came to dominate by 0- 3, in the game that closed the twenty-first day of the competition.
In this way, Imanol Alguacil’s team recovered what was lost at the Reale Arena against Valladolid and, in addition to being three provisional points behind Real Madrid, maintains an eight-point advantage over fifth-placed Betis, in their fight to be in the next Champions League. Diego Martínez’s, for his part, was left without adding the victory for the third consecutive game and remains one point behind the relegation.
The start of the clash at the RCDE Stadium was hectic and demonstrated the willingness of Espanyol, who had the first clear lead, with a shot from Calero that demonstrated Remiro’s good form. However, marked by the loss of Joselu, the locals could not give him continuity and little by little they were left at the mercy of their rival.
This, after a small warning from Oyarzabal, opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, with a powerful shot from Kubo against which Álvaro Fernández could do nothing. La Real grew and the ‘parrots’ suffered to not concede any more goals, with Cabrera saving a header from Brais under the sticks and with Sorloth enjoying two good options. Espanyol did not get too close except for a distant shot from Vinicius Souza.
After the break, Diego Martínez’s men came out eager again in search of a quick equalizer, but the visitors managed to hit with spaces, with Sorloth pushing a good delivery from Oyarzabal into the net. The 0-2 again did a lot of damage to the blue and white team that soon after saw how scoring was almost impossible with Cabrera’s own goal.
Some fans began to leave the stadium, while others showed their anger, but Espanyol still had the strength to add emotion to the game. Darder, after a great save by Remiro, made it 1-3 in the 74th minute, and hope grew when Brian Oliván cut more distance after a good wall with Lazo. Real Sociedad held up against their rival’s haste and ended up taking all three points.