Despite the match beginning in an open and entertaining fashion, the first notable moment would come after 16 minutes when Real Madrid and La Liga leading scorer Karim Benzema was forced out of the game through injury. Fortunately for Real Madrid, Vinícius Jr. was the capital club’s main threat from the off. While neither side would find the opening goal in the first interval, both sets of players created a flurry of chances on the counter-attack in a wide open first 45 minutes.
As expected, the second interval began in smillairly high-flying fashion, and it was the league leaders who struck first. After some superb combination play, Luka Jović, who came on for the stricken Benzema in the first half, found Vinícius Jr deep in the Sociedad box, and the winger stabbed the ball home from point-blank range, giving Carlo Ancelotti’s men the lead only two minutes into the second half. It would go from bad to worse for ‘La Real’ when the ball would once again fall to Jović in the penalty box and the striker’s diving header found its way into the net, doubling Madrid’s lead with just shy of 30 minutes remaining. Madrid’s second goal allowed them to go into cruise control and see the remaining minutes of the game out.
While Sociedad had yet to lose a La Liga match at home this season, Real Madrid’s victory may come as no surprise to fans of either club, as ‘Los Merengues’ came into tonight’s match having won 30 of their 74 games in San Sebastian, more than against any other opponent in La Liga.
