March 06, (THEWILL) – At the Santiago Bernabeu late on Saturday, Real Madrid extended their hold on the league lead with a 4-1 victory over third-placed Real Sociedad.
Real had a lot of possession in the beginning, but Sociedad had the first chance of the game after eight minutes. Dani Carvajal tripped David Silva in the box, resulting in a penalty kick, which Mikel Oyarzabal converted with aplomb.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side had to work hard to break down Sociedad’s strong defence, and Eduardo Camavinga tied the game up after Casemiro came within inches of equalising from a Luka Modric cross.
After 40 minutes, the young Frenchman arrowed a shot towards goal from 25 yards, profiting from a powerful deflection from Asier Illarramendi to eventually breach Sociedad’s defence, kicking off a frantic three minutes.
Karim Benzema almost immediately put the ball in the back of the net, but his goal was ruled out for offside by both the assistant and VAR, in yet another of those ridiculously severe “armpit hair” calls.
Camavinga’s goal was good, but Modric went one better with a breathtaking long-range blast to give Real a hard-fought advantage at halftime.
The second half was set to the same pace as the first. Benzema wasted no time in putting Alex Remiro to the test, forcing the Sociedad goalkeeper to make a great save seven minutes in.
Shortly before the 70th minute, the France striker felt he had finally scored, but his effort from a wonderful attacking move was again called out for offside in the build-up.
After being denied twice by VAR, the video assistant came to Real’s rescue in the 75th minute when a free-kick granted to Vinicius Junior was upgraded to a penalty, which Benzema converted with ease.
Just a few moments later, the score was 4-1. Dani Carvajal sent the ball back to Marco Asensio, who had only just entered the game, and the substitute tapped home with ease to give the league leaders a commanding lead.
It was a perfect way for Real to set themselves up for their key UEFA Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek before a La Liga match against Mallorca on next Monday. Real Sociedad will play Deportivo Alaves on March 14 in their next match.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
