Real Sociedad on Sunday moved level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona after snatching a 2-1 victory away to fellow high-flyers Granada thanks to a late strike from forward Cristian Portu.
Portu had given the Basque side the lead midway through the first half, latching on to a pass from Mikel Oyarzabal and confidently finishing into the bottom corner after Granada lost possession inside their own half.
Promoted Granada had fallen off the summit of the table last week after surprisingly leading the standings and had the chance to reclaim top spot after Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid had all failed to win on Saturday.
Photo: EFE
They drew level in the 36th minute with an audacious long-range free-kick from Alvaro Vadillo, helped by some poor goalkeeping by Sociedad’s Alex Remiro, but it was the visitors who struck in the 89th minute to steal the points, as substitute Adnan Januzaj picked out Porto and the striker again showed real composure inside the penalty area to score his second of the game.
The victory moved Real Sociedad up to third on 22 points after 12 games, level with second-placed Real Madrid and leaders Barcelona, who both have a game in hand.
Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil said his side deserved the victory, but was not interested in discussing whether they could remain with the leaders come the end of the season.
“These three points are important to us, but so is every victory in this league, where any team can beat anyone else. Today we beat a side who were ahead of us and who are very strong at home, and that says a lot of our players,” Alguacil said. “The league table doesn’t mean anything to us, we’re more interested in the way we play and we’re very happy with how we played today.”
Granada coach Diego Martinez was proud of his team’s performance, but frustrated at the manner in which they lost.
“It’s a real pity, the game was very evenly matched and I give my players 10 out of 10 for effort, but it wasn’t meant to be,” Martinez said.
Earlier on Sunday, CA Osasuna continued their remarkable home form by beating Deportivo Alaves 4-2 for a club record 31st consecutive home in league competition.
The Pamplona club were last beaten at the Estadio El Sadar in April lasst year when they were in the second division and earlier this campaign they held champions Barca to a 2-2 draw, as well as beating Valencia 3-1.
Elsewhere, Real Valladolid vanquished RCD Mallorca 3-0, Villarreal were held to a goalless draw by Athletic Bilbao, Getafe won 1-0 at RC Celta de Vigo and Sociedad Deportiva Eibar claimed a 2-1 victory at CD Leganes.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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