Nov 3 (Reuters) – Real Sociedad went level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona after snatching a 2-1 victory away to fellow high-flyers Granada on Sunday thanks to a late strike from forward Cristian Portu.
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 on Saturday.
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.
The victory took Real Sociedad third on the standings on 22 points after 12 games, level with second-placed Real Madrid and leaders Barcelona, who both have a game in hand. (Reporting by Richard Martin Editing by Christian Radnedge)