Real Sociedad eliminate Atletico Madrid from Copa del Rey

Sports Desk, Jan 19 (EFE).- Atletico Madrid crashed out of the Copa del Rey with a 2-0 away defeat Wednesday at the hands of Real Sociedad.

With a fifth loss in their last eight matches, the 10-time Copa winners have failed to reach the quarterfinals for a fifth consecutive season, while Sociedad remain in pursuit of a third triumph in the competition.

Trailing LaLiga leaders Real Madrid by 16 points, Atletico – the defending champions – had come to look on the Copa del Rey as their best chance for a trophy.

The Colchoneros will turn their focus to the Champions League, where they face Manchester United next month in the knockout stage.

Atleti and Sociedad are currently level on points in LaLiga and the Madrid side sit fourth in the table thanks to better goal difference.

But match at Reale Arena in San Sebastian turned out to be surprisingly one-sided, as the hosts put six shots on target to just one for the visitors.

Aritz Elustondo headed wide on a chance to put Sociedad ahead in the 5th minute and Adnan Januzaj forced a stop from Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak two minutes later.

What would prove to be Atleti’s best moment came in the 15th minute, when Yannick Carrasco charged down the field on a counter before hitting the post.

Januzaj broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute, getting his head to a cross into the box from Joseba Zaldua.

Two minutes into the second half, a blunder by Felipe left Alexander Sorloth alone in front of Oblak and the Norwegian bested the Slovene to make it 2-0.

Oblak denied Sorloth in the 56th minute to prevent the deficit from getting bigger for Atletico. At the other end, Sociedad keeper Remiro stopped a strike from Matheus Cunha with 11 minutes left.

The match was preceded by a clash between police and a group of Sociedad fans who threw objects at the Atletico team bus as it pulled up outside the stadium. EFE cr/dr