This week sees matches of the 6th round of the group stage of the Europa League season 2024/25. In one of them, on Thursday, December 12, Spanish «Real Sociedad» faced Kyiv’s «Dynamo». The match took place in San Sebastián at the «Anoeta» stadium.
Europa League. Round 6 of the group stage
«REAL SOCIEDAD» (San Sebastián, Spain) — «DYNAMO» (Kyiv, Ukraine) — 3:0 (3:0)
Goals: Oyarzabal (19, 33), Becker (24)
Warnings: Odriozola (75), Magunaselaiya (83) — Dubinchak (30), Bragaru (88)
«Dynamo»: 1.Bushchan (C) — 40.Bilovar, 4.Popov, 3.Dyachuk — 20.Karavaev, 6.Brazhko (76.Pikhalyonok, 62), 91.Mykhailenko, 44.Dubinchak — 9.Voloshyn (45.Bragaru, 81), 15.Rubchynskyi (22.Kabaiev, 62) — 39.Guerrero (11.Vanat, 62).
Substitutes: 35.Nescheret, 51.Morhun, 8.Shepelyev, 18.Andriievskyi, 23.Malysh, 24.Tymchyk, 29.Buyalskyi.
«Real Sociedad»: 1.Remiro, 27.Aramburu (2.Odriozola, 58), 5.Subeldia, 21.Agerd, 3.Muñoz, 14.Kubo (25.Magunaselaiya, 58), 16.Olasagasti, 15.Gonzalez (22.Turrientes, 78), 23.Mendes (28.Marin, 46), 10.Oyarzabal (C) (9.Oskarsson, 58), 11.Becker.
Substitutes: 13.Marrero, 12.Lopez, 17.Sergio Gomez, 19.Sadik, 24.Suchich, 31.Martin, 34.Ruperes.
Match statistics >>>
Post-match press conference >>>
«Dynamo» started this match boldly, and in its debut, the game was evenly contested. But then «Real Sociedad» started to seize the initiative. And quickly turned this into goals. In the 18th minute of the match, Popov fouled Oyarzabal in his own penalty area, and the referee unhesitatingly awarded a penalty. The injured party, Oyarzabal himself, stepped up to the spot, Bushchan saved his shot, but he couldn’t hold onto the ball, and the captain of «Real Sociedad» scored on the rebound — 1:0.
Almost immediately after this, the home side came close to securing a second goal, but in this instance, Bushchan completely saved «Dynamo»: first he dealt with a shot from Mendes from six yards out, then he tipped a long-range shot from Becker over the crossbar.
Nevertheless, in the 24th minute, the score doubled: a penetrating attack by «Real Sociedad» was finished with a shot from a tight angle by Becker, and the ball flew into the near top corner of «Dynamo»'s goal — 2:0.
«Real Sociedad» didn’t think of stopping. And in the 28th minute of the match, the Spaniards created another goal-scoring opportunity — Oyarzabal from the right side of the «Dynamo» penalty area shot into the far corner, and once again, Bushchan made a diving save.
But five minutes later, the captain of «Real Sociedad» completed a brace: he finished his team’s attack with a thunderous strike from the edge of the six-yard box into the near upper corner of the Kyiv goal — 3:0. Right after that, Kubo shot almost from the same spot and also aimed for the near corner, but this time Bushchan managed to deflect the ball.
«Real Sociedad» held complete dominance until the whistle for halftime, making a series of dangerous shots; however, the score in the first half did not change.
The pattern of play in the second half changed, but not enough to turn the tide in this game. Yes, «Dynamo» began to have more ball possession, looking more aggressive, but «Real Sociedad» controlled the situation on the football field entirely.
There were no goal-scoring chances for «Dynamo» in the second half, nor did «Real Sociedad» shine in attack, but in the final moments of the match, Becker struck a fearsome long-range shot, after which Bushchan only managed to catch the ball with his second touch. As a result, the match ended with the victory of the Spanish team with a score of 3:0.
In the next round of the group stage of the Europa League, «Dynamo» will face an away match against Turkish «Galatasaray». This duel will take place next year, on January 21, in Istanbul.
Oleksandr POPOV
