Barcelona miss chance to extend La Liga lead, fall 2-1 to 10-man Real Sociedad
The match began with controversy as Carlos Soler’s early goal for Sociedad was ruled out for offside.
KATHMANDU: Barcelona missed the opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of La Liga as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against a ten-man Real Sociedad at the Estadio Municipal de Anoeta.
The match began with controversy as Carlos Soler’s early goal for Sociedad was ruled out for offside.
Later, Barcelona’s goals from Fermín López and Lamin Yamal were also disallowed after VAR reviews, while Frenkie de Jong’s effort went wide.
Sociedad broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute when Mikel Oyarzabal converted a brilliant volley from Gonçalo Guedes’ cross.
Barcelona thought they had a penalty during first-half injury time, but VAR intervened again to cancel it due to Yamal being offside.
In the second half, Barcelona dominated possession and created several chances, with Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski denied by Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro.
Barcelona finally equalized in the 70th minute through Marcus Rashford, who headed in Yamal’s cross.
However, Sociedad responded almost immediately, with Guedes volleying past the keeper to restore their lead within 60 seconds.
Barcelona continued to press, with Jules Koundé seeing a header hit the post. Sociedad finished the match with ten men after Soler received a second yellow card for a foul on Pedri.
This marks Barcelona’s third defeat of the La Liga season, leaving them just one point ahead of second-placed Real Madrid.
