Villarreal earned themselves a crucial one-goal lead over Real Sociedad in the fifth round of the Copa del Rey this evening, with Marcelino Garcia's side overcoming David Moyes and his men 1-0 in the first leg at the Estadio El Madrigal.
Real had the game's first chance to take the lead as Moi Gomez headed wastefully straight into the arms of Enaut Zubikarai after only two minutes had been played.
Jonathan might have put the hosts into the lead just before half time, but he fired wide of the target after being picked out by Giovani dos Santos.
Having dominated the first period, Real looked impressive in the second half when Gerard picked up on a loose defensive ball, before firing across the face of goal and wide.
The home side's superiority in the fixture finally paid off not long after when Denis Cheryshev found himself with space inside the box, leaving the Russian forward to tuck past Zubikarai from a difficult angle and earn his side a crucial lead in the tie.
Christopher Dodd
