MY ACCOUNT
Real Sociedad eased to a surprisingly comfortable 2-0 win against Atletico Madrid in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
Goals in each half from Adnan Januzaj and Alexander Sorloth saw Imanol Alguacil’s team claim victory at Reale Arena.
Elimination from the Copa del Rey for Atletico came less than a week after their semi-final loss to Athletic Bilbao in the Supercopa de Espana in Saudi Arabia.
Diego Simeone tried to shake things up when he introduced the trio of Luis Suarez, Matheus Cunha and Thomas Lemar just 10 minutes into the second half, but it made little difference as the hosts saw out the win.
La Real dominated the opening period of the game and had two early chances with Aritz Elustondo heading wide when free at the far post before Januzaj saw an effort blocked and his follow-up strike the post.
Atletico hit the woodwork themselves with their first real chance after 15 minutes when a ball from Rodrigo de Paul found Yannick Carrasco, but the Belgian was thwarted by the near post.
The hosts had the lead in the 33rd minute when some nice interplay released Joseba Zaldua down the right and his cross found the head of Januzaj, who somehow rose above a sea of Atletico defenders to guide a header in off the left-hand upright.
It was 2-0 within two minutes of the restart after a mistake from Felipe allowed Mikel Oyarzabal to stab the ball through to Sorloth and he finished past Jan Oblak with ease.
Sorloth and Mikel Merino went close to extending the lead further but it proved inconsequential as La Real were rarely troubled at the other end.
