Real Sociedad Thrashed in Europa League First Leg, Granada, Villarreal win

 

La Liga side Real Sociedad was thumped 4-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round of 32 tie with Manchester United on Thursday.

The match was played at Juventus’s Allianz Arena stadium due to travel restrictions based on Covid-19.

Manchester United took the lead in the 27th minute of the first half through Bruno Fernandez before the Portuguese made it 2-0 in the 57th minute of the second half.

Marcus Rashford made it 3-0 in the 65th minute but Mason Greenwood had his goal chalked off for offside by the VAR three minutes later.

Daniel James completed the rout on the dot of 90 minutes to make the second leg at the Old Trafford on the 25th of February a daunting task of overturning a 4-goal deficit for Real Sociedad.

It is the first time that Real Sociedad will be conceding more than two goals this season in the Europa League.

They finished second behind Napoli in a group that also had AZ Alkmaar and Rijeka, scoring 5 goals and conceding 4 in six group stage games.

An unbeaten run of three matches was also ended with the result after winning two of their last three matches in the La Liga after beating Getafe, Cadiz and recording a draw against Villarreal.

Real Sociedad will now shift their focus to La Liga on Sunday when they face Alaves before the return leg of the Europa League game against Manchester United next Thursday.

As for Manchester United, they will face Newcastle at Old Trafford on Sunday in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Granada defeated Napoli 2-0 in the first leg of their round of 32 tie. Two early goals from Yangel Herrera in the 18th minute and another from Kennedy in the 21st minute were enough to seal the game.

Villarreal also got a 2-0 win against RB Salzburg in Austria, Paco Alcacer lost a penalty in the 21st minute of the game but he got the opening goal in the 41st minute while Fer Nino sealed the game with a second goal in the second half.

 

 

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu