Real Sociedad’s woes continue in loss to Alaves

San Sebastian (Spain), Dec 22 (IANS): Real Sociedad once again struggled at home in a 0-1 loss to Alaves, continuing a poor run of form that has left them near the La Liga relegation zone.

The visitors nearly opened the scoring in the fifth minute on Friday when Jony failed to convert a one-on-one opportunity against goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya, although a header by Jonathan Calleri off a cross by Borja Baston gave them the lead six minutes later.

La Real, who have won just one match all season at Anoeta Stadium, started working their way into Alaves’ area after the inauspicious start and had a clear chance on a powerful shot by Theo Hernandez that goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco managed to save, reports Efe.

The hosts then continued to heap pressure on their opponent after the break, with Belgian Adnan Januzaj finding himself alone in the area but barely missing the mark on his shot. But Alaves posed a constant threat with their attacking tandem of Baston and Calleri, with the latter nearly making the score 2-0 on a one-on-one opportunity against Moya. Real Sociedad head coach Asier Garitano, sensing his team had lost dynamism on offense and was seemingly on the verge of allowing a second goal, sent on 16-year-old Ander Barrenetxea to give his team a late spark.

The teenager became the first player born in the 21st century to play in a La Liga game when he took the field in the 85th minute, but time ticked away with no change on the scoreboard. With the defeat, Real Sociedad currently have a four-game losing streak and are 15th in the La Liga standings with 19 points.

Alaves, for their part, snapped a four-game winless streak on Friday and currently are in the No. 5 spot with 28 points, behind only Spanish-league heavyweights FC Barcelona, Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.Afterward, Alaves head coach Abelardo Fernandez noted that the club is in a much stronger position than after 17 games of the 2017-2018 season.”This 2018 has been a great year … because we now have nearly double the points as last season at this juncture, and we need to enjoy it because we’re two thirds of the way to our goal,” he said.

–IANSajb/vm