Zenit take control of their Europa League group after beating Real Sociedad
The Russian side took advantage of La Real’s mistakes to come away with the victory.
Both sides came into this game with convincing wins from the first match of the group stage. Zenit won 5-0 away at Macedonian side Vardar while Real Sociedad won 4-0 at home against Rosenborg. Therefore, based on these results, they are the two favourites for this group. This match was a key indicator for which team was going to top the group.
Real Sociedad, and their coach Eusebio Sacristán, will be annoyed because defensive mistakes allowed Zenit to come away with a 3-1 win. A poor sideways pass from Rubén Pardo in the 5th minute gave the ball to Emiliano Rigoni on the edge of the box and he fired a shot into the corner. Later in the half, Sociedad goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli completely misjudged a long ball to give Aleksandr Kokorin an easy finish.
The Spanish side rallied and they pulled a goal back just before half-time thanks to a header from Diego Llorente. They were still behind, though, and this suited Roberto Mancini’s men because they could absorb La Real’s pressure and hit them on the counter. Their third goal came from this as they quickly transitioned up the pitch; Branislav Ivanović received the ball on the wing and sent in a pinpoint cross to Kokorin who headed into the far corner.
This seemed to be the final blow for Sociedad even though there was still thirty minutes left. They only had one major chance after this which Willian José headed wide, and they had Rulli to thank for keeping it a two goal margin.
Impact on both sides
The season keeps getting better for Mancini because prior to this match Zenit won away from home against second place FC Krasnodar in the league. They are currently challenging on both fronts successfully, which has been the aim of their owners Gazprombank. Their next match is away against Anzhi, and they will be hoping to continue their 11 game unbeaten domestic streak.
In contrast to this, La Real are in a slump. They started the domestic season well with three wins, but that has been matched by three losses. The loss against Real Madrid could be expected, but a 3-0 defeat to Levante was disappointing. This was compounded by a home loss against Valencia, which will be compounded by this result. Sacristán needs to find answers quickly. His style of play is entertaining, but it is causing them to leak goal due to its risky nature.