Real Sociedad, Huesca battle to scoreless draw

Real Sociedad continues to find it difficult to get comfortable at Anoeta stadium and once again let ranking points slip through its fingers, battling the lowly Huesca to a scoreless draw.

Amid a heavy on Sunday, the action was simply give and take or back and forth with neither goaltender, Rulli for Real Sociedad and Santamaria for Huesca, needing to intervene and the two teams seeming to study one another without taking on even the slightest risk, reports Efe news.

Huesca certainly did not play the game fans had expected, given its dire situation at the bottom of the charts, although Venezuela's Yangel Herrera did manage to get off a threatening shot from outside the area in the 20th minute that hit the post.

Real Sociedad then seemed to wake up and proceeded to tighten up its game somewhat, opening up the game a bit and coming close to getting on the scoreboard on another long-range shot that hit the other post.

The match bounced back and forth rather listlessly from that point on until the break although "Cucho" Hernandez, Huesca's best player, would have made it 1-0 on a powerful shot had not Rulli fended off the prospective tally on a great move.

When play resumed after the break, the game continued to move back and forth without any clear direction or drives, although the simple fact was that both teams desperately needed the three points.

Despite the bad weather, a little over 21,200 fans were on hand to view the match at Anoeta stadium on a very wet Sunday that made for a slippery surface and "fast" play.

Although Huesca is at the bottom of the pile in 20th place in the La Liga table and faces virtually certain relegation, Real Sociedad is hovering in the middle of the pack in ninth place with 26 points.

--IANS

gau/mr