A dominant Real Madrid leapfrogged Barcelona to move to the top of the La Liga standings, after a comfortable 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad on Matchday 24 at the Estadio Bernabéu.
Two penalties from Vinícius Júnior, as well as goals from Gonzalo García and Federico Valverde, secured an eighth consecutive league triumph for Álvaro Arbeloa’s men, and handed Pellegrino Matarazzo his first defeat as Sociedad manager in his tenth game in charge.
Madrid had enjoyed an extra three days of preparation than their opponents heading into this clash, having not played since their 2-0 win away at the Mestalla against Valencia last Sunday. Sociedad, in contrast, had contested a Wednesday night Basque derby in the Copa del Rey, as they claimed a 1-0 victory in the first leg of their semi-final against Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames, and their midweek exertions were evident from the first minute at the Bernabéu.
The visitors had not kept a clean sheet in any of their past 17 league games – since a 1-0 victory at home to Mallorca on Matchday 6 – and any hopes that they had of ending that run against Madrid were extinguished inside the opening five minutes of the contest. Trent Alexander-Arnold – making his first start for nearly two and a half months after picking up a thigh injury against Athletic Bilbao at the start of December – whipped an exquisite cross into the box which was prodded home by Gonzalo.
Sociedad were gifted a golden opportunity to equalise after twenty minutes, as Dean Huijsen clumsily felled Yangel Herrera inside the box, and Mikel Oyarzabal duly accepted – thumping his penalty emphatically down the middle to net his tenth league goal of the season. However, the Basque outfit were level for only four minutes, as Vinícius’ mazy dribble on the left side of the Sociedad box was abruptly halted by Jon Aramburu, who brought the Brazilian down. Madrid’s number 7 assumed responsibility and stepped up to take the penalty himself, coolly sending Álex Remiro the wrong way to restore the home team’s advantage.
Shortly after the half-hour mark, Los Merengues ruthlessly exploited the Sociedad defence once again, as Valverde was afforded space to turn and shoot on the edge of the box, wonderfully caressing his effort into the top corner past the fingertips of an outstretched Remiro. The hosts could have added a fourth goal seconds before the half-time whistle, but Gonzalo somehow failed to hit the target from only a few yards out when found by a Valverde cross.
History repeated itself only 67 seconds into the second half, as Aramburu brought down Vinícius inside the penalty area, with referee Francisco Maeso once again pointing to the spot. This time the Brazilian placed his penalty into the opposite corner, to register his 200th goal contribution in a Madrid shirt.
Matarazzo’s men did have opportunities to narrow Madrid’s advantage in the second half, through Jon Martín and Carlos Soler, but they were both to be denied by Thibaut Courtois. Equally, the home side had several opportunities to further extend their lead, with Martín clearing a Gonzalo effort off the line and Arda Güler awkwardly slicing an attempt wide having been played through on goal from the halfway line.
Vinícius thought that he had added the icing on the cake and completed his third career hat-trick two minutes from time, as he produced a delicate header to glance a Güler free-kick into the far corner, only for his celebrations to be cut short by the offside flag.
Arbeloa was not required to call on the services of the league’s top scorer, Kylian Mbappé, either, with the Frenchman playing the role of an unused substitute ahead of his side’s trip to Lisbon to take on Benfica in the first leg of the Champions League play-offs on Tuesday night.
As it stands, Madrid sit at the top of the La Liga standings by two points, and will continue to occupy that position until at least Monday night, when Barcelona travel to Girona for a Catalan derby.
Sociedad, meanwhile, tasted their first league defeat in over two months, a run of eight games which has seen them climb from 16th to 8th in the table. Matarazzo will be hoping to build on what, in general, has been an incredibly impressive start as head coach and return to winning ways in their next fixture – a meeting at home with the division’s bottom side, Real Oviedo, on 21st February.
Match Officials: Referee: Francisco José Hernández Maeso; Video Assistant Referee: Daniel Jesús Trujillo Suárez; Assistant Referee 1: Iván Massó Granado; Assistant Referee 2: Abraham Pérez Dapía; Fourth Official: Francisco García Riesgo; Assistant VAR Official: Javier Iglesias Villanueva
Real Madrid Lineup; Courtois; Alexander-Arnold (subbed for Carvajal, 60’); Rüdiger (subbed for Alaba, 60’), Huijsen, Carreras; Valverde (subbed for Brahim, 73’), Güler, Tchouaméni (subbed for Cestero, 79’), Camavinga (subbed for Ceballos, 73’); Gonzalo, Vinícius Real Sociedad Lineup: Remiro; Aramburu, Martín, Zubeldia, Muñoz; Herrera (subbed for Turrientes, 60’), Gorrotxategi; Marín (subbed for Díaz, 73’), Soler, Wesley (subbed for Guedes, 46’); Oyarzabal (subbed for Óskarsson, 60’)