Real Sociedad player ratings, Oyarzabal stands alone | OneFootball

Oyarzabal shone as Real Sociedad’s display against Espanyol featured an early Barrenetxea goal and a vital Remiro stop. AS notes the captain had no like-for-like replacement and made everything look easy.

Barrenetxea scored inside two minutes after a brilliant Oyarzabal run. Óskarsson struck the post on 30 minutes from a corner, then Roberto levelled on the stroke of half-time with a spectacular hit. After the break, Óskarsson scored and on 68 minutes Remiro saved superbly to prevent 2-2.

Remiro had little to do before the interval and could do nothing about Roberto’s strike. Aramburu worked tirelessly and narrowly avoided a booking, while Jon Martín struggled on the leveller and is still adjusting to a new role. Zubeldia looked sharper in the middle and was booked for protesting after Remiro was left in pain.

Sergio Gómez offered an assured outing with accurate crosses and disciplined defending. Turrientes moved the ball cleanly, was booked and withdrawn on 61 minutes. Soler lacks rhythm, dawdled on a promising break around 20 minutes, and Sucic improved markedly, better centrally, before going off on 76 minutes.

Barrenetxea’s spark came with one risky loss that Expósito failed to punish. Oyarzabal was omnipresent, the opener stemmed from his solo run, and he departed to an ovation two minutes from time. Óskarsson rebuilt confidence by scoring, combined well with Oyarzabal and was replaced on 76 minutes.

From the bench, Yangel suffered one dangerous loss but was steady otherwise. Mrchal impressed on his first-team Anoeta debut and is going to be important under Matarazzo. Guedes always makes things happen and, hopefully, can start against Celta, Kubo had few openings, and Gorrotxategi’s minutes were a welcome sign.

Source: AS

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