After drawing 2-2 last day against the bottom of the First Division (Almería), Real Sociedad failed again, this time on their visit to Getafe (1-1), and compromised their strength in the sixth and last place in Europa League that Betis is stalking, just three points behind the San Sebastian team.
Bad news for Real Sociedad, which seems to be deflating at the worst moment of the course. The last few days are those that usually decide the future of the teams and Imanol Alguacil’s seems determined to leave in the air the sixth place that Betis, Valencia and even Villarreal already covet.
The reality is that the San Sebastian team needed a victory after the three points that Betis added in Valencia. He couldn’t fail if he didn’t want problems. And even more so after drawing just a week ago in San Sebastián against the bottom team, Almería.
That setback was too loud for a team that was accumulating a winning momentum of three consecutive victories. Their slowdown against the Andalusian team forced Alguacil’s men to roll up their sleeves against a team that still had distant hopes of taking its name around Europe next season.
Getafe, nine points behind seventh place before the opening whistle, could not miss the opportunity to get into the continental fight. However, Bordalás, with only 16 players available from the first team, had to use youth players such as Alberto Risco, Jorge Martín, Diego López and Yassin Tallal to complete the squad.
The list of absences was long: Arambarri, Borja Mayoral, Aleñá, Juan Iglesias and Duarte. Everyone out due to injury. But Bordalás still had good material to upset Real Sociedad with names like Milla, Greenwood, Maksimovic, Djené, Alderete or Soria.
But it was the Alguacil team that came out much better planted on the Coliseum grass. He managed to completely cancel Getafe’s ball out and with Mikel Merino and Turrientes very successful he took control of the match. He didn’t accumulate chances, but during the first half hour he managed to make his rival only chase the ball desperately from one side to the other.
At that time, he only had one option and he hit the target. And, a good percentage of the blame for Real Sociedad’s goal lay with Becker, who lived up to his surname with a cross from the right wing that was pure poetry. He got rid of Carmona, he hit the ball with a devilish thread that surpassed Soria and Barrenetxea came in like a plane to head the first goal of the game.
Getafe seemed completely sunk. Even so, he resisted Real’s harassment and grew little by little. He withstood the downpour and on one isolated occasion tied the game to change the erratic course of his team. The tying play will generate controversy among the Getafe players themselves, who will discuss among themselves who officially scored the goal.
Actually, the first to score was Óscar, who collected a spectacular save by Álex Remiro from a shot by Maksimovic to push the ball towards the San Sebastian goal. Remiro appeared again with another saving hand that, at first, seemed valid, although the ball completely crossed the goal. The play continued, Greenwood crossed, Latasa headed into the net and the referee awarded the goal to the blue forward.
Which of the two goals is the good one? Oscar’s or Latasa’s? We will have to wait for the report from referee Víctor García Verdura. The fact is that the goal changed Getafe, who during the last quarter of an hour of the first half shook off Real’s dominance and, although without generating more chances, lived calmly until the break.
The time in the locker room was another case of ‘The X-Files’ for Óscar, who once again starred in a ghost goal that required a VAR review. The Getafe midfielder hit a foul against the post, which sent the ball into the goal. Robin Le Normand, providentially, managed to clear at the last moment. He narrowly avoided the goal. The images showed that the ball did not pass the entire line and Óscar was left without a prize.
La Real, completely out of focus, barely reacted with any tackle from Kubo, who appeared after the break to replace Barrenetxea. The Japanese became one of the few nuisances for Getafe, who tried to score the winning goal without success.
Jaime Mata had it in his boots, but he got tangled in the one-on-one matchup against Remiro. Turrientes responded to the blue striker’s chance with a left footed shot from outside the area that Soria cleared for a corner. And there was no more. The heat, the carousel of changes and the continuous interruptions on both sides extinguished a duel whose ending surely harmed Real Sociedad the most, forced to fight until the end for the last place with access to the Europa League.
