Spanish La Liga side Real Sociedad secured their third victory in the UEFA Europa League this season when they went away to Moldova to beat Sheriff Tiraspol 2-0.

The group E leaders in the UEFA Europa League did not have it easy at the start, but a strong second-half performance helped ease the tension.

After a frustrating first half, Real Sociedad scored first when Alexander Sørloth held the ball up before laying off the on-rushing Silva, who curled an effort into the top left corner to take the lead.

Moments later, Sheriff were reduced to ten men when Moussa Kyabou was sent off on the hour mark for a second bookable offense after his challenge on Alex Sola.

The win is Real Sociedad’s fourth consecutively after their win against Omonia Nicosia previously and wins against Girona and Espanyol in La Liga.

Their first Europa League game against Manchester United was a 1-0 win away at Old Trafford. However, they will face Villarreal next in La Liga at the weekend before hosting the Moldovans next week.

Meanwhile, Real Sociedad’s weekend opponents Villarreal were comfortable in their victory against Austrian side Austria Vienna.

The Yellow Submarines got a 2-0 lead from the first half when Alex Baena benefited from Samuel Chukwueze’s assist to open the scoring in the 18th minute.

Baena provided the assist for Danjuma a few minutes before halftime, although the second half was less eventful compared to the first half until second-half substitute Jose Luis Morales got into his groove late on.

The Spaniard scored a 12-minute hat-trick to make it a 5-0 victory in favor of the Yellow Submarines.

Both Real Sociedad and Villarreal are separated by just a single point and a single position. While Sociedad sits in 7th position with 13 points, Villarreal are in 8th with 12, sitting six and seven points off the league leaders Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The two La Liga rivals are separated by goals difference, with El Clasico just a week away.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu