Real Sociedad stays 4th with win at Elche in Spanish league

MADRID — Takefusa Kubo scored as Real Sociedad beat last-place Elche 2-0 to end its winless streak and regain sole possession of fourth place in the Spanish league on Sunday.

Ander Barrenetxea also scored in the second half for Sociedad, which hadn’t won in six games in all competitions, including four straight in the league. It was coming off elimination against Roma in the Europa League on Thursday.

The win gave the Basque Country club a three-point gap over fifth-place Real Betis in the fight for the Champions League places.

Playmaker David Silva led Sociedad over Elche, which has won only two of its last 11 league games. It sits 14 points from safety.

Sociedad’s last league win had been at Espanyol in February.

Betis ended its four-game winless streak in all competitions with Borja Iglesias scoring a second-half goal in a 1-0 victory over midtable Mallorca at home. Betis had been eliminated by Manchester United in the Europa League.

Villarreal, another Spanish club that failed to advance in European competition after losing to Anderlecht, rebounded in the Spanish league with a 3-0 win at Osasuna.

Villarreal was coming off a three-game winless streak. It stayed in sixth place, four points behind Betis and seven from Sociedad.

Osasuna, sitting ninth, hasn’t won in three matches.

Leader Barcelona hosts Real Madrid in the final “clasico” of the season later Sunday. The Catalan club has a nine-point lead over its rival.

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