Real Sociedad held Manchester United to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie on Thursday, with Mikel Oyarzabal restoring parity from the penalty spot after Joshua Zirkzee’s opener.
Chances were lacking throughout the first half before United’s Dutch forward opened the scoring with a first-time strike in the 57th minute, though la Real took a golden opportunity to equalise after Bruno Fernandes handled the ball inside the box.
The second leg gets underway at Old Trafford at 20:00 GMT [21:00 CET] next Thursday.
As it happened
Chances in the first half at the Reale Arena were few and far between on Thursday night, with Manchester United forcing the first shot on target after 12 minutes when Alejandro Garnacho cut inside onto his right foot, only to draw a routine save from Alex Remiro.
United’s Argentine forward looked to be a bright spark for Rúben Amorim’s side and came close to registering an assist midway through the half; his ball through to Patrick Dorgu was well-placed, though the Dane blazed well over the crossbar.
But the best chance for the visitors came ten minutes before the break, as Bruno Fernandes found himself denied from twelve yards out. Joshua Zirkzee attempted to smash home the rebound – his first effort was parried away by Remiro, and his second was flicked wide of the post.
The Red Devils emerged from the interval as a rejuvenated side, forcing two golden opportunities to open the scoring inside the first ten minutes of the second half. Garnacho could only pick out the side netting from Dorgu’s cross, however, and directed a later effort straight into the arms of Remiro after being teed up by Diogo Dalot.
Amorim’s men clinched the reward for their dominance just before the hour mark, with Zirkzee making amends for his plethora of earlier misses with a thunderous first-time finish. A rapid counter-attack – initiated by Dalot – found Garnacho, with the Argentine winger playing it back to the edge of the box for Zirkzee to smash home.
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But United had lacked ruthlessness throughout the night, and it came back to bite the visitors when Mikel Oyarzabal was gifted an opportunity to level the scoring from the penalty spot following a Bruno Fernandes handball. The 27-year-old sent André Onana the wrong way, restoring parity just moments after Garnacho squandered another opportunity to double the Red Devils’ lead by blasting into the side netting.
Orri Óskarsson looked set to complete the comeback in the dying stages of Thursday’s first leg, but his poor composure cost the Basque outfit as he failed to hit the target after coming up against Onana in a 1v1 situation, before being denied by the Cameroonian shotstopper in injury time.
A 1-1 draw in San Sebastián leaves this UEFA Europa League tie perfectly poised ahead of next week’s return fixture at Old Trafford, which kicks off at 20:00 GMT [21:00 CET] on Thursday, 13 March.
The lineups
RSO: Remiro; Munoz, Aguerd, Zubeldia, Elustondo, Sučić, Turrientes, Mendez; Barrenetxea, Oyarzabal, Kubo
MUN: Onana; Mazraoui, de Ligt, Yoro; Dorgu, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dalot; Zirkzee, Højlund, Garnacho