Barcelona have survived another test in La Liga, and have maintained their lead over Real Madrid once more. The Blaugrana met a stingy defensive Real Sociedad squad on Saturday, but did enough to scrape by with a 2-0 victory, thanks to goals by Neymar and Pedro.
3 things we learned from Barcelona’s 2-0 win over Real Sociedad
La Liga’s title race is still controlled by the Blaugrana.
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La Real got to halftime level, with their goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli keeping them in the game. He made three excellent saves in the opening 30 minutes, denying Lionel Messi on a header, plus shots by Neymar and Gerard Pique.
When Barca finally went ahead in the 50th minute, it was a huge relief, and they were helped by a poor clearance. A cross by Messi was met by the head of Mikel Gonzalez, but he couldn’t put the ball out for a corner. Instead, it fell to Neymar, who tapped in at the far post.
Pedro entered the game in the final 10 minutes and sealed Barcelona’s win with a stunning bicycle kick. Once again, Real Sociedad couldn’t clear their lines, and a deflected clearance popped up perfectly for the La Masia product to score one of the best goals of his career.
Barcelona: Bravo, Adriano, Bartra (Busquets 61'), Pique, Alves, Mascherano, Xavi (Iniesta 74'), Rafinha (Pedro 82'), Neymar, Messi, Suarez
Goals: Neymar (50’), Pedro (85’)
Real Sociedad: Rulli, Gonzalez, I. Martinez, C. Martinez, de la Bella, Markel, Pardo, Prieto, Canales (Castro 73'), Granero, Vela (Finnbogason 77')
Goals: None.
3 things
1. The Pedro for midfielder sub worked! - Only up one goal against a very solid counter-attacking team, it seemed crazy for Luis Enrique to stick with his policy of bringing on Pedro for a midfielder. He had to turn to that strategy after the entire front three made a stink about getting subbed, but it's surprising he did it in such a tight game. And then, Pedro scored a bicycle kick to clinch the points for the Blaugrana.
2. Real Sociedad probably deserved a point - Gerónimo Rulli had a spectacular game in goal for La Real, and it's not like he was bailing out a poor defense repeatedly either. Real Sociedad looked very good at the back, and only conceded when a clearance just barely fell to Neymar instead of going out for a corner. David Moyes will probably feel like his team played well enough to draw, but one bad break is all it took for Barcelona to score a goal.
3. Mission accomplished for Barca - They got some rest for Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba while keeping their two-point lead in La Liga. This couldn't have gone better.
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