Real Madrid eliminates Real Sociedad and reaches the Copa Del Rey final
Endrick scores a great goal in the first half, with Bellingham, Tchouaméni and Rüdiger scoring the others
Endrick scores a great goal, but Real Madrid struggle to get through
Real Madrid are in their 41st Copa del Rey final, a competition they have won 20 times. But the qualification was much less straightforward than expected. After a 1-0 win in the first leg, Carlo Ancelotti’s team found themselves 3-1 down on Tuesday, tried to equalise late on, but conceded a fourth goal in injury time. The result? Extra time. In the final 30 minutes, the team’s shirt weighed heavily, and the Madrid team went through with a goal from Rüdiger, following a corner kick.
Real Madrid were on top of Real Sociedad from the start, but ended up losing 1-0 after a mistake by the defense, especially Lucas Vázquez. Barretenxea, free, took advantage and played the ball between Lunin’s legs. Soft water on hard stone, and the team that shot 10 times managed to equalize with a great goal by Endrick. He received a beautiful pass from Vini and chipped the ball over Remiro with great skill.
Real Madrid went into the locker room feeling superior and the second half showed the same. Ancelotti’s team dominated, but they were not killing it. The opponent, who seemed weak, managed to turn the game around after two poor defensive interventions. First Tchouaméni cleared the ball weakly, then Alaba deflected a Pablo Marín shot into his own goal. The 3-1 came with Oyarzabal, who had been making a lot of mistakes. Once again the ball deflected off Alaba.
Real left it to react at the end. In the 36th minute, they scored the second goal that forced extra time with a great play by Vini that ended in a beautiful volley by Bellingham. In the 40th minute, Tchouaméni headed the ball and Remiro made a mistake. Nobody believed in Real Sociedad anymore, right? They did.
In the 47th minute of the second half, Sergio Gómez took a free kick into the box, Lunin missed, Alaba also missed, and Oyarzabal scored another. Now there was no way out, extra time was a reality.
Much less frantic than normal time, extra time saw Real Madrid more fully formed and Vini Jr. refusing to tire and continuing to run a lot down the left. Physical superiority made a difference, and the set piece worked once again. In the second half, Arda Güler took a perfect corner kick, and Rüdiger put an end to Real Sociedad’s dream. A hard-fought qualification in a spectacular game!
Endrick’s high average
Endrick has barely played under Carlo Ancelotti, but when he comes on he is a great performer. Not counting injury time, he has played 560 minutes this season and scored seven goals. The average is one goal every 80 minutes. And Tuesday’s was a great goal.
