{"id":40428,"date":"2026-02-15T12:04:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T12:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=40428"},"modified":"2026-02-15T12:04:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T12:04:39","slug":"vinicius-bags-brace-as-real-madrid-take-liga-lead-end-sociedad-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=40428","title":{"rendered":"Vinicius bags brace as Real Madrid take Liga lead, end Sociedad run"},"content":{"rendered":"
Vinicius Junior won and converted two penalties as Real Madrid thumped Real Sociedad 4-1 on Saturday to move provisionally top of La Liga.<\/p>\n

An impressive performance from Trent Alexander-Arnold on his first start in two-and-a-half months also helped Los Blancos move two points clear of champions Barcelona, who visit Girona on Monday.<\/p>\n

Madrid’s convincing display inflicted a first defeat for visiting American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, in his 10th match at the helm of Real Sociedad.<\/p>\n

Young striker Gonzalo Garcia and Fede Valverde were also on target for Alvaro Arbeloa’s Madrid, who face an important Champions League play-off match against Jose Mourinho’s Benfica on Tuesday in Lisbon.<\/p>\n

“We did great work in attack and in defence… you could tell that we were defending as a team during the whole game,” Valverde told Real Madrid TV.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had long weeks where we’ve been preparing a lot, and now we will fight for La Liga and the Champions League.”<\/p>\n

Fit to start his first game since early December after a thigh injury, it did not take Alexander-Arnold long to make an impact.<\/p>\n

The England defender’s cross was met with a delicate finish by Garcia, starting in place of French superstar Kylian Mbappe, who was feeling some knee discomfort.<\/p>\n

“Trent is a very intelligent boy, who understands the game very well, and has quickly understood what we want from him,” Arbeloa told reporters.<\/p>\n

“We’re lucky to have a player like this, who can play inside or outside… at set-pieces, with his kick he can set us off on the counter-attack very well, he’s a great player.”<\/p>\n

Real Sociedad pulled level after 21 minutes when Yangel Herrera was clumsily felled by Dean Huijsen in Madrid’s box.<\/p>\n

Mikel Oyarzabal powered the spot-kick down the middle, but La Real’s joy was short-lived.<\/p>\n

Vinicius won a penalty of his own at the other end when Jon Aramburu tripped him in the area and the Brazilian sent Alex Remiro the wrong way.<\/p>\n

Madrid were rampant and Valverde netted a fine third in the 31st minute, moving into space on the edge of the box and curling into the top corner.<\/p>\n

Livewire Vinicius\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matarrazzo sent on Goncalo Guedes at half-time, hoping his team could mount a comeback but Aramburu conceded another penalty early in the second half.<\/p>\n

It was Vinicius running at him once more which provoked it, with the winger nutmegging Aramburu and then eagerly hitting the deck as the right-back slid in.<\/p>\n

Vinicius went for the bottom left corner this time, switching directions, and Remiro could not reach his strike.<\/p>\n

With Jude Bellingham out injured and Mbappe sitting on the bench, Vinicius seemed to have more freedom to roam and revelled in being the key attacking figure.<\/p>\n

“Since I’ve arrived he’s had games at a really high level… he’s a player who goes beyond the statistics, how he can change a game, condition opponents, the number of players he can attract” said Arbeloa.<\/p>\n

“(Vinicius is) one of the best in the world, I’m lucky to coach him, he’s a great kid with a big heart.”<\/p>\n

Garcia came close to a second but Real Sociedad defender Jon Martin, who performed well individually despite his team’s heavy defeat, cleared his effort off the line.<\/p>\n

Vinicius was denied a hat-trick by the linesman’s flag as he used his shoulder to convert Arda Guler’s crossed free-kick but had strayed just offside.<\/p>\n

“The first half was tough, we weren’t comfortable… and in general we did badly,” Oyarzabal told Movistar after his team’s unbeaten run was brought to an end.<\/p>\n

“We came here in a good dynamic and doing well, a bad game doesn’t have to spoil that.”<\/p>\n

Earlier, Villarreal fell to a 2-1 defeat at Getafe in a blow to their hopes of a top four finish.<\/p>\n

The Yellow Submarine, currently sitting fourth, were far from their best and Mauro Arambarri sent the hosts ahead from the penalty spot shortly before the break.<\/p>\n

Martin Satriano extended Getafe’s lead early in the second half, with Georges Mikautadze pulling one back for Villarreal, but Marcelino Garcia Toral’s team could not find an equaliser.<\/p>\n

Real Betis, fifth, could move within four points of Villarreal if they beat Mallorca on Sunday.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vinicius Junior won and converted two penalties as Real Madrid thumped Real Sociedad 4-1 on Saturday to move provisionally top of La Liga. An impressive performance from Trent Alexander-Arnold on his first start in two-and-a-half months also helped Los Blancos move two points clear of champions Barcelona, who visit Girona on Monday. Madrid’s convincing display […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}