Racing Santander 2 : 1 Real Sociedad - Giovani strike sinks Sociedad

Posted Sunday, March 20, 2011 by PA

On-loan forward Giovani dos Santos struck a second-half winner against Real Sociedad to help Racing Santander ease themselves away from relegation trouble with a 2-1 win.

After a first half littered with shots from distance, Santander took the lead with a spectacular opener from Kennedy Bakircioglu.

Antoine Griezmann brought Sociedad level after the break, before Tottenham forward Giovani settled matters.

Santander started impressively and Osmar Barba drilled just over from 20 yards, before Markus Rosenberg did the same thing after working some space for himself.

Xabi Prieto tried to get Sociedad going with a hit from just inside the area, while Bakircioglu did the same at the other end.

Bakircioglu was at the heart of the action and forced a save from Claudio Bravo from the edge of the box, while Rosenberg again took aim from far out as the home side struggled to fashion a clear chance.

Sociedad were also trying their luck from distance, with Griezmann warming Antonio Tono's palms, before Bakircioglu made a brilliant breakthrough two minutes from the interval.

The former Sweden international picked up the ball 20 yards from goal and curled home an unstoppable effort to give his side the lead.

After the break, Pedro Munitis whistled a strike over the bar as Santander looked for a second, while Tono produced a wonder save to keep out a fizzing Griezmann free-kick.

Giovani should have done better for Santander when he broke into the box and dragged wide, and he was made to rue his miss as Griezmann pulled his side level.

In the 71st minute he thumped a shot against the bar, but only had 30 seconds to wait to get his reward as he volleyed in a Preto cross.

Tono then produced more heroics to keep out a shot from Diego Ifran, before Giovani pounced on a loose ball in the box to restore his side's advantage with 13 minutes remaining.

Ifran's close-range effort nearly made it 2-2, while Gonzalo Colsa forced another save out of Bravo in injury time.