Barcelona‘s 11-match winning run came to an end as 10-man Real Sociedad clung on to secure a 2-1 win over the LaLiga leaders in a gripping contest at the Reale Arena.
Mikel Oyarzabal put Sociedad ahead at the interval after Barça had three goals chalked off and a penalty overturned for offside, but Marcus Rashford for the visitors levelled eight minutes after his introduction from the bench.
Sociedad retook the lead less than a minute later through Gonçalo Guedes and not even Carlos Soler’s straight red card in the closing stages could prevent them from claiming a hard-fought victory.
Hansi Flick’s side end the weekend just one point ahead of arch-rivals Real Madrid after their third defeat of the season in the league, having dominated for large spells but finding luck go against them.
They were denied by the goalframe on three occasions after the interval, while Sociedad goalkeeper Alejandro Remiro made several outstanding saves, most notably from Dani Olmo and substitute Robert Lewandowski.
It was Sociedad who first had the ball in the back of the net inside the opening minute only to be denied by the assistant referee, who flagged Oyarzabal after he glanced beyond Joan García, but Barcelona soon settled into the contest.
Pedri should have done better than fire straight at Remiro after being picked out by Yamal, while Barcelona thought they scored when Fermín López drilled low into the net, but a foul on Takefusa Kubo in the build-up saw the effort chalked off following a VAR check.
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Frenkie de Jong got the final touch to Pedri’s cross-cum-shot but he had strayed offside, as did Yamal, by the narrowest of margins, as he rifled beyond Remiro from an acute angle.
Sociedad, though, did break the deadlock in the 32nd minute as Oyarzabal peeled away from his marker at the back post and dispatched a side-footed volley beyond Garcia from Guedes’ cross.
Remiro denied Olmo and Yamal, who was then hauled down in the box by Igor Zubeldia in the dying seconds of the first half but the penalty awarded by referee Jesus Gil Manzano was overturned because the Barcelona teenager was offside after being played in.
The one-way traffic continued after the break as Olmo was twice denied by the outside of a post, with Remiro excellently fingertipping the second effort on to the goal frame.
Lewandowski, sent on alongside Rashford, almost made an immediate impact off the bench when he rose highest from Yamal’s cross but Remiro again superbly palmed the header from point-blank range on to the bar.
Remiro’s goal was finally breached in the 70th minute when Rashford ghosted past Jon Aramburu to head home from Yamal’s cross, but having fought so hard to equalise, Barcelona fell behind just seconds after the kickoff.
While Garcia saved from Soler’s initial header, Barcelona were unable to clear the danger and the ball fell to Guedes, who drilled into the ground and into the net.
The goal knocked the stuffing out of Barcelona and Sociedad should have given themselves a cushion but Oyarzabal put a free header wide while Igor Zubeldia lobbed over an out-of-position Garcia, only for Pau Cubarsí to head off the line.
Jules Koundé headed off the underside of the bar, while Soler was given his marching orders in the 88th minute for a rash challenge on Pedri, but Sociedad withstood nine minutes of time added-on to record a famous win that moved them up to eighth in the standings.
