The VAR leaves Espanyol without a prize in Donostia

The VAR prevented Espanyol from getting something positive out of their visit to the Reale Arena, where Real Sociedad secured the three points thanks to a penalty goal converted by Isak in the 96th minute. A most doubtful maximum penalty that left the Vicente Moreno without a prize and with the permanence still not completely tied and those of Imanol Alguacil only six points from the ‘Champions zone’.

With the sensitive casualties of the injured Oyarzabal and the sanctioned Januzaj, on the local side, and those of the also limping Diego López and RDT on the visiting side, the match started with a Real Sociedad better than its opponent, a Espanyol that without its great offensive reference and, especially, without the ball in his possession, he was at the mercy of the rival. It was not surprising, then, that the first big chance (min. 7) was the responsibility of the txuri urdin, a point-blank shot by Zubimendi that Oier took ‘in extremis’… with his forehead!

Espanyol hardly existed when they crossed the midfield, with a Darder who had to delay his position a few meters to be in contact with the leather. For this reason, only in a set piece action could the Catalan team create a sense of danger, which they did in the 17th minute, in a free kick taken by Embarba and headed by Cabrera. The ball came out licking the base of the post.

Gallery

It was a game with few opportunities and the next one didn’t come until half an hour later, after Diego Rico stole the ball from Óscar Gil, in a powerful point-blank shot by David Silva that Oier again magnificently took out.

In the absence of goals before the break there was a controversial action. In the 42nd minute, a clear entry from behind by Le Normand on Loren inside the area was not taken into account by the referee Jaime Latre nor by the VAR. Incomprehensible. With 0-0, the intermission was reached.

After passing through the changing rooms, Real continued to put pressure on and five minutes after the restart, the VAR did intervene. Sorloth scored after a pass from David Silva, the referee scored but was warned by the earpiece. After seeing the play on the sideline monitor, he did not hesitate to annul it, as the ‘giant’ from San Sebastian, seconds before scoring, had knocked down Cabrera.

[+] Look at the summary with the best plays of the match:

Both coaches began to move chips, starting a carousel of changes that seemed to suit Real, to which the entry of the young Djouahra sat them perfectly. Even so, Espanyol, although non-existent in attack, did show order in the defensive plot… until VAR appeared again, the sad protagonist of the match. In the 93rd minute, Mikel Merino fell to Calero, who hit the ball before touching the man from San Sebastian. Jaime Latre pointed out the more than doubtful penalty, which the video arbitration confirmed, and at 96′ Isak converted it to leave the three points in Donostia.