Takefusa Kubo produced an instinctive finish against former club Real Madrid, helping Real Sociedad to their first La Liga win over Los Blancos since 2019 and moving Barcelona to the brink of the title. The convincing 2-0 victory saw Sociedad tighten their grip on a first top-four finish since 2012/13, with the visitors’ impressive 12-game scoring streak ended in the process.The decision to rest Saturday’s hat-trick hero Karim Benzema, coupled with Vinícius Júnior’s suspension, meant that Carlo Ancelotti was always likely to rely on unusual suspects up top. Sure enough, Aurélien Tchouaméni’s stinging shot and Éder Militão’s looping header both called Álex Remiro into action early on, but Sociedad boss Imanol Alguacil will have been pleased to see his side apply pressure thereafter. Alexander Sorloth and David Silva began a frenzied period by blazing over from close range, before Martín Zubimendi undoubtedly produced one of the misses of the season, thumping the crossbar from two yards out, with the cliché ‘easier to miss than score’ rarely more applicable.Jordi Alba’s late strike saves woeful Barca against ten-man OsasunaThe hosts came out swinging after the break, with Kubo leading the charge to make amends for their first-half wastefulness, and he kick-started Sociedad’s route to victory by pouncing on Militão’s misplaced back-pass to slot past Thibaut Courtois. As the second period unfolded, things went from bad to worse for Los Blancos, with Dani Carvajal shown a yellow card for taking his frustration out on referee Juan Luis Pulido. The Spaniard was left red-faced a few minutes later when a crunching challenge saw him dismissed, reducing Madrid to 10 men before substitute Ander Barrenetxea sealed the win with a low, drilled finish after cutting in from the left.YOU CAN WATCH BARRENETXEA’S GOAL HERE.Sociedad notched a third consecutive clean sheet in taking their latest La Liga scalp, giving Alguacil extra satisfaction after clinching his first career victory over Ancelotti. The Real Madrid boss has bigger fish to fry, however, with the Copa del Rey final coming up on Saturday and a bumper European showdown with Manchester City pencilled in next week.LA LIGA – MATCHDAY 33TuesdayAlmeria – Elche 2-1 (1-0)/Baptistao 22, Embarba 52 – Ponce 90/Barcelona – Osasuna 1-0 (0-0)/Alba 86/Real Sociedad – Real Madrid 2-0 (0-0)/Kubo 47, Barrenetxea 85/Wednesday20:30 (2.95) Valencia (3.45) Villarreal (2.50)23:00 (1.30) Atl. Madrid (5.20) Cádiz (11.0)23:00 (2.55) Getafe (3.15) Celta Vigo (3.20)Thursday20:30 (2.25) Girona (3.30) Mallorca(3.60)20:30 (1.88) Sevilla (3.50) Espanyol (4.30)23:00 (1.75) Athletic Club (3.70) Real Betis (5.40)23:00 (1.85) Rayo Vallecano (3.60) Valladolid (4.80)***odds are subject to change***
