FC Barcelona v Real Sociedad: Three points to end the year (0-3)
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Jenni Hermoso (2) and Bárbara Latorre on target as third beats fourth in the last league match before Christmas
Christmas came early for the FC Barcelona women’s team! They have ended the year in the beautiful city of San Sebastian with a big win away to a direct title rival, with goals from Jenni Hermoso (2) and Bárbara Latorre.
The Catalans made their intentions clear from the start, with Marta Torrejón firing just over the bar from outside of the area before the game was barely under way. Moments later and Jenni Hermoso sent an effort sailing between the posts to get Barça off the mark.
What followed was a game in which both teams were competing to control possession of the ball, but some solid Barça defending made sure that Real Sociedad were unable to cause any serious danger until a free kick towards the end of the first half that Laura Ràfols coped with coolly – and so the first 45 minutes ended with FCB a goal to the good.
Barça looked even livelier after the restart, with a Jenni Hermoso shot being saved by home keeper Quiñones and Alexia Putellas having a couple of great chances too. It was Bárbara Latorre, just minutes after being sent on as a substitute, who finally extended the visitors’ lead when she caught the home goalie off her line. With eight minutes left, it looked like game over, and as it happened, those last eight minutes were more about Barça’s scramble to add a third than Real’s bid to close the gap.
With three minutes to go, Jenni Hermoso headed home her eleventh goal of the season following a sharp cross from Marta Torrejón. The win leaves Barcelona third in the championship, now four points ahead of Real Sociedad, who remain one place below them.
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MATCH STATS
Real Sociedad, 0
FCB Femení, 3
Real Sociedad: Quiñones, Ramajo, Gastearena, García (Eguzkiñe, min 79), Zelaia (Izaskun Leoz, min 74), Díaz, Baños, Fernández (Lareo, min 45), Pizarro, Soldevila & Mendoza.
FC Barcelona: Ràfols, Ane Bergara, Ruth, Unzue, Melanie, Miriam (Patri Guijarro, min 79), Jenni Hermoso (Irene del Río, min 88), Alexia (Bárbara Latorre, min 70), M. Torrejón, Leire & Olga (Sandra Hernández, min 70).
Goals: 1-0, Jenni Hermoso (min 12); 0-2, Bárbara Latorre (min 73); 0-3, Jenni Hermoso (min 87).
Referee: Antón Mosqueira. Yellow for Leyre Fernández (min 38) of RS and Miriam (min 43) and Jenni Hermoso (min 69) of FCB