Real Sociedad got back to winning ways after a 3-1 home triumph over Real Betis Balompié at a drenched Anoeta Stadium. The game was closer than the final scoreline suggests with Portu and Nebil Fekir being the standout players.

Story of the Match

Both clubs were looking to get back to winning ways, with Real Betis hovering around the relegation zone, an away win would really have boosted Rubi’s men. Instead La Real were able to come back from a goal down to finish the game as 3-1 victors, with goals coming from Willian José, Portu and an own goal from Javi García.

There were a few chances in the opening 10 minutes, the most notable being a shot that blazed just past the top right corner by Joseba Zaldúa. Yet it was Betis who would take the lead with Lorenzo Jesús Morón García managing get his 7th goal of the campaign in the 12th minute. A lovely low cross from Antonio Barragán was matched by a beauty flick from Loron to trick the goalkeeper. A very dubious offside call was made by the linesman, however, after a long pause, VAR overruled that decision to give Betis the lead.

It took La Real less than 10 minutes to respond after Mikel Oyarzabal went down softly holding his face from a Fekir challenge.  Martin Ødegaard took the freekick from the left side whipping the ball in for José to fluff his lines, however, the ball landed straight at Nacho Monreal’s feet and he smashed a low cross across the goalmouth for Mikel Merino. Merino failed to get a touch but, it ricocheted off García’s shins, meaning there was nothing Joel Robles could do to prevent it from becoming 1-1 after 22 minutes.

From here the game became very scrappy for the next 10 minutes, with a string of reckless fouls creating tension between the two teams. Both sides had few chances in this period but nothing substantial to threaten either goal. With the best being Portu who got through one on one but, Marc Barta came in with a world-class challenge to prevent him from getting his shot away.

After a period of pressure from La Real, where they were passing it from one side to another dragging Betis across the field creating gaps, Zaldúa ran into space down the right-wing, from where he delivered a wonderful whipped in a cross to the penalty spot. José latched onto the ball and smashed it straight into the middle of the goal with such pace Robles didn’t have enough time to react, making it 2-1 to the home side after 35 minutes.

La Real had sprung into life once again and really went for Betis for the rest of this half. 5 minutes after the goal Portu was through one on one, after a quick throw that caught everyone off guard, all he had to do was slot it home. That he did, however, somehow Alexandre Moreno Lopera was switched on enough to get back to clear it off the line. Closest either side got to goal after this was Merino failing to get onto Mikel Oyarzabal’s cross that would’ve killed the game there. Instead at half time Betis were still in with a chance of getting back into this game, with Fekir looking to most lively for the away side.

La Real came right out the blocks at half time, maintaining strong pressure on Betis, which would pay off for them in the 57th minute. After battling to win the ball back, a great passing play saw Portu laid off to Ødegaard who scooped a ball into the box for Oyarzabal. In turn, he passed the ball backwards with his thigh, allowing Portu to run in and smash the ball past Robles. The keeper managed to get a hand to it but wasn’t strong enough to prevent a goal again. At 3-1 to the home side, they looked set for the win to put them level with Club Atlético de Madrid in the league.

From here Betis looked to get back into the game with Fekir and Joaquín running the show. However, nothing was coming off for them and their anger spilled over into a few nasty challenges. The first being from García into Ødegaard’s ankle; he was very lucky to escape with just a yellow. The second saw Joaquín smash into Monreal on the byline and nearly managed to take out Imanol Alguacil in his technical area. However, in the 74th minute Betis were close to making it 3-2, as Tello smashed a shot that hit the crossbar twice and just failed to cross the line. Just a few minutes later La Real broke up the pitch with Portu who put near-post cross in for Oyarzabal to brush the ball just wide. The game was end to end but Betis were not able to muster up a goal despite continuing to battle until the final whistle. The last real chance in the game fell to substitute Alexander Isak, who sent a scissor kick shot just whistling past the crossbar in the 90th minute. Full time 3-1 to La Real, who are looking good again after their last few shaky results in the league. Betis, on the other hand, are failing to make chances go in and another poor performance from Borja Iglesias will be annoying the fans.

Stand-out players

Portu

Obviously Portu got his goal that helped kill the game but, he also created a good amount of chances for his side and better finishing would have seen him pick up an assist too. His battling to win the ball back for key part in his goal, as well as, having the pace and knowledge to help stretch this Betis side.

Real Sociedad: Álex Remiro; Igor Zubeldia, Robin Le Normand, Nacho Monreal; Joseba Zaldúa, Martin Ødegaard, Ander Guevara (Luca Sangalli 69th), Mikel Merino; Mikel Oyarzabal (Ander Barrenetxea 84th), Portu; Willian José (Alexander Isak 75th).

Real Betis Balompié: Joel Robles; Alexandre Moreno (Alfonso Pedraza 53rd), Marc Bartra, Aïssa Mandi, Antonio Barragán; Javi García, Nabil Fekir, Sergio Canales (Andrés Guardado 65th), Joaquín; Lorenzo Morón, Borja Iglesias (Cristian Tello 66th).

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