Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona: Score and Reaction from 2016 La Liga Match

Barcelona couldn't break the curse of the Anoeta during Sunday's 2016-17 La Liga fixture, as Real Sociedad held the Catalans to a 1-1 draw. The Blaugrana still haven't won in San Sebastian since 2007.

La Real dominated the first half, earning chance after chance but failing to open the score. Willian Jose gave the hosts a deserved lead early in the second half, but Lionel Messi struck back almost immediately.

Juanmi had a goal controversially disallowed in the late stages of the match, and La Real went closest with several chances in the dying minutes. No more goals were scored, however.

As the Catalans' official Twitter account shared, Rafinha was kept on the bench, with Andre Gomes keeping his place in the starting XI:

La Real came into the match in superb form after winning their last four, including a 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid. In typical fashion, they showed no fear of Barcelona, putting pressure on the Blaugrana early.

David Zurutuza drew an early save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen, beating Gerard Pique to a cross from Carlos Vela. The Barca defender had a rough start, comically missing a clearance Javier Mascherano had to push out for a corner.

Carlos Martinez tried his luck with a shot from long range but missed the mark, and Mikel Oyarzabal couldn't pick out a team-mate with his cross. Sports writer Sid Lowe was impressed with the hosts:

Willian Jose picked out Xabi Prieto with a fine cross, but the Sociedad man couldn't direct his header past Ter Stegen, whose positioning was on point in the opening stages. He had another headed chance minutes later, as Jordi Alba missed his intervention, but somehow failed to find the target.

Prieto redeemed himself with a fantastic through ball for Vela, who took a bad touch before sending his shot wide. Per Kieran Canning of Agence France-Presse, La Real were making Barcelona look silly:

Ter Stegen made a good save on Inigo Martinez's curled shot—yet another great chance for La Real—and the stopper ran into a booking moments later for delaying the game.

Vela was furious when he wasn't given a penalty after dribbling past two defenders and clashing with Mascherano, but replays showed the Argentinian barely touched him. Minutes later, the Mexican clashed with Alba, leaving the latter in a great deal of pain.

Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

Oyarzabal went close after Barcelona failed to deal with a corner, and La Real pressed even harder with the temporary one-man advantage. Alba returned to the pitch, but Pique replaced him on the sidelines with a knock, leaving two of the Catalans' defenders hobbled.

Luis Suarez fired Barcelona's only real chance of the half wide of the target, leaving goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli with little work to do. Sociedad failed to convert their dominance into goals, however, entering half-time.

Bleacher Report UK's Karl Matchett couldn't help himself:

La Real didn't let up to start the second half, with Oyarzabal earning an early free-kick after a foul from Gomes. Barcelona showed more attacking intentions, however, and Neymar put Rulli to work with a free-kick of his own.

The hosts took a deserved lead just a few minutes into the half, when Ter Stegen denied Vela from close range and Willian Jose worked the rebound past Pique. ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan thought it could even count as an own goal for the Barcelona man, as the ball seemed to be heading wide until his touch:

Mascherano was booked for a cynical foul on Vela shortly after, but Martinez failed to convert the free-kick, sending it over the bar.

Barcelona were all over the place, but the visitors tied things up from out of nowhere. Neymar did the hard work with a fantastic run before picking out Messi, who calmly slotted home. Per Matchett, the run was the difference:

La Real didn't let the setback get the better of them, and Willian Jose claimed another penalty after some minor contact with Mascherano. This time, the Sociedad man simply seemed to lose his footing, however.

Pique did well to clear another cross ahead of Oyarzabal before a controversial decision from the linesman wiped out a Sociedad goal. Vela fired a shot off the underside of the ball, and Juanmi pushed home the rebound from an onside position. Somehow, the linesman failed to spot the forward in time and disallowed the goal.

Per Corrigan, he wasn't even close to being offside:

Raul Navas cleared a ball off the line and Mascherano flashed a header wide, as both teams pushed for a winner. Sociedad's poor luck continued, with Vela finding the post with a hard drive.

Esteban Granero fired over twice from promising positions, as La Real came closest to a late winner. Barcelona held on, however, to earn a point at the Anoeta.

As shared by Lowe, Pique was blunt in his assessment of his team's performance:

"

Pique: "very hard to win the league like this"

— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) November 27, 2016"

Barcelona's next outing will be at Hercules in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, while Sociedad visit Real Valladolid in the same competition 24 hours later.