04/18/26 05:22:00
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04/18 17:21 CDT Real Sociedad beats Atletico Madrid in penalty shootout to win
Copa del Rey title
Real Sociedad beats Atletico Madrid in penalty shootout to win Copa del Rey
title
SEVILLE, Spain (AP) --- Real Sociedad beat Atletico Madrid on penalties to win
the Copa del Rey title on Saturday, giving American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo
his first title since he moved to Spain this season.
After the game finished 2-2 following extra time, Sociedad goalkeeper Unai
Marrero saved shots by Alexander Sorloth and Julin Alvarez and Pablo Marn
converted the last kick to clinch the shootout 4-3.
"I knew that if we got to penalties, I believed in myself, my teammates
believed in me, our fans believed in me," the 24-year-old Marrero said before
the winners received the trophy and medals from Spanish King Felipe VI.
"I still can't believe it," Marrero said. "The boy who dreamed for this since
he was young has fulfilled his dream."
Sociedad needed 14 seconds and just three players to touch the ball directly
after kickoff to take the lead through Ander Barrenetxea.
Ademola Lookman equalized for Diego Simeone's side with a goal in the 19th
minute, but a penalty by goalkeeper Juan Musso allowed Mikel Oyarzabal to
restore Sociedad's advantage in first-half injury time.
Alvarez stroked a shot into the right corner to make it 2-2 in the 83rd.
The New Jersey-born Matarazzo took over Sociedad in December when it was two
points above the relegation zone in the Spanish league. Four months later, the
Basque Country club has won the cup and is in the upper half of the La Liga
table.
Opta Statistics said Barrenetxea's goal was the fastest ever in a Spanish cup
final.
The opening goal against Atletico's vaunted defense was about as simple as they
come: ball to goalkeeper, long ball down the right flank, where Gonalo Guedes
was free to send in a cross for Ander Barrenetxea to head it home.
The sequence exposed a series of less-than-ideal defending. Neither Nahuel
Molina nor Giuliano Simeone intercepted reachable balls; Matteo Ruggeri let the
shorter Barrenetxea outjump him for the header; and goalkeeper Juan Musso
perhaps could have made a more sprightly effort to stop the shot from bouncing
past.
Lookman again proved the most-impactful winter signing by a Spanish side -- his
goal was his seventh for Atletico -- when the former Atalanta forward received
a pass from Antoine Griezmann just inside the area and sent a left-footed shot
inside the post.
Oyarzabal went to the spot after Musso slammed into Guedes while disputing a
high ball in the box. Oyarzabal lived up to his reputation as a penalty expert,
slotting his try home. The Spain striker also scored a penalty for the only
goal in the 2020 cup final against Athletic Bilbao.
Sociedad was in control and only minutes away from the title when Atletico
finally mounted a good team move to unsettle Sociedad's defense for the first
time and set up Alvarez in the second half.
Musso made up for his earlier mistakes by making back-to-back saves in extra
time. And Alvarez went close to netting a winner when he hit the woodwork in
the 100th.
Otherwise, Atletico created several chances it couldn't finish off to get the
title-clinching goal.
Then it was Marrero's turn to shine as he guessed right on the first two
penalties by Atletico's strikers.
"The team did all it could to turn this around, we were behind right from the
start and did what we could," Atletico's veteran midfielder Koke Resurreccin
said. "It is a difficult night. Thanks to all our fans who traveled with us."
Griezmann will now need to help steer Atletico past Arsenal in the European
semifinals to have another shot at finishing his final season in Spain with a
title before the club's all-time leading scorer joins Orlando City in the MLS
next season.
"We want to win the Champions League," Koke said. "But tonight is a hard night.
We will have time to think about the Champions League."
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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