Europa League | Lazio 3-1 Real Sociedad: Dominant Aquile soar into final 16

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·23 de janeiro de 2025

Europa League | Lazio 3-1 Real Sociedad: Dominant Aquile soar into final 16

Lazio swept 10-man Real Sociedad aside 3-1 to guarantee their place in the Europa League top eight with a game to spare, as Mario Gila, Taty Castellanos and Mattia Zaccagni were on target.

The Aquile were top of the table, but Luca Pellegrini and Samuel Gigot sat out bans, with Manuel Lazzari, Patric and Matias Vecino injured, plus Elseid Hysaj, Toma Basic, Gaetano Castrovilli and new signing Arjon Ibrahimovic ineligible. Real Sociedad were 12th in the standings and missed Hamari Traoré to a long-term knee injury.

Vídeos OneFootball

Unfortunately, the build-up to this match was marred by violent clashes between circa 150 ultras, leaving nine injured.

See how the game unfolded on the Liveblog.

It was the perfect start, as Nuno Tavares pumped a long free kick into the box, which was knocked down by Taty Castellanos for Mario Gila to smash into the roof of the net from seven yards.

Boulaye Dia forced a tricky save at the near post, then on the resulting corner Castellanos saw his header cleared off the line by Brais Mendez with millimetres to spare, Gila turning the rebound onto the upright.

Real Sociedad also rattled the woodwork, as the left-foot Luka Sucic curler from just inside the area thumped the top of the far post with Christos Mandas beaten.

The Spaniards went down to 10 men after just 30 minutes, as Aihen Munoz was twice late into the lunge on Gustav Isaksen and received two yellow cards.

ROME, ITALY – JANUARY 23: Gustav Isaksen of SS Lazio compete for the Aihen Munoz of Real Sociedad during the UEFA Europa League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 match between S.S. Lazio and Real Sociedad de Futbol at Stadio Olimpico on January 23, 2025 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images)

Moments later, Lazio took full advantage to double their lead, as Isaksen combined with Nuno Tavares down the left and pulled back for Mattia Zaccagni, who had time and space to take a touch before sweeping home from seven yards.

Nuno Tavares then whipped a trademark cross in from the left for the glancing Castellanos header into the far bottom corner.

It was all going too well for the Biancocelesti, who lost Nuno Tavares to a muscular problem just before half-time. Already missing so many defenders, they moved Matteo Guendouzi to right-back, Adam Marusic to the left and substitute Fisayo Dele-Bashiru into midfield.

Somewhat inevitably, 10-man Real Sociedad went into damage limitation mode and Lazio had no need to take risks, so the tempo in the second half slowed considerably.

Pedro still managed to smash a shot against the crossbar from six yards after a long team move and Loum Tchaouna’s curler was just over the far top corner, while Lazio gave Mahamadou Balde (little brother of former striker Keita Balde Diao) his senior debut.

With the tempo at a crawl, Real Sociedad got a consolation goal out of nowhere, Mandas flapping at the first attempt by Jon Aramburu and Ander Barrenetxea turning in from close range.