La Liga wrap: Real Sociedad go level with Barcelona, Real Madrid at top of table

Bengaluru, November 4: A last-gasp strike from Cristian Portu helped Real Sociedad snatch a 2-1 victory away to fellow high-flyers Granada and draw level with with La Liga leaders Barcelona.

The victory took Real Sociedad third on the standings on 22 points after 12 games, level with second-placed Real Madrid and leaders Barcelona.

However, both Baecelona and Real Madrid have a game in hand after their El Clasio tie was put off to December 18.

Results | Points Table

Portu had given the Basque side the lead midway through the first half, latching on to a pass from Mikel Oyarzabal and confidently finishing into the bottom corner after Granada lost possession inside their own half.

Promoted Granada had fallen off the summit of the table in mid-week after surprisingly leading the standings last weekend and had the chance to reclaim top spot after Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid had all failed to win.

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They drew level in the 36th minute with an audacious long range free kick from Alvaro Vadillo, helped by some poor goalkeeping from Sociedad's Alex Remiro.

But it was the visitors who struck in the 89th minute to steal all the points, as substitute Adnan Januzaj picked out Porto with a ground pass and the striker again showed real composure inside the area to score his second goal of the game.

Deserved win

Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil said his side deserved the victory, but was not interested in discussing whether they could remain among the top three come the end of the season.

"These three points are important to us but so is every victory in this league, where any team can beat anyone else. We beat a side who were ahead of us and who're very strong at home and that says a lot of our players," he said.

Happy result

"The league table doesn't mean anything to us, we're more interested in the way we play and we're very happy with how we played today," added Alguaci.

Granada coach Diego Martinez was proud of his team's performance but frustrated at the manner in which they lost.

Good effort

"It's a real pity, the game was very evenly matched and I give my players 10 out of 10 for effort but it wasn't meant to be," said Martinez.

Granada play Valencia away next week while Real Sociedad host Leganes in the opening game of the weekend.

Osasuna on the move

Earlier, Osasuna continued their remarkable home form by beating Alaves 4-2 for a club record 31st home victory in a row in league competition.

The Pamplona club are in good form this season, having held champions Barcelona to a 2-2 draw as well as beating Valencia 3-1.

(With inputs from Agencies)