American coach Matarazzo gets first win as Real Sociedad sneak late win at Getafe

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MADRID (AP) — Brais Mendez scored a goal-of-the-season contender as Real Sociedad won at Getafe 2-1 and gave American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo his first win in charge of the Basque club on Friday.

The ball fell kindly for the big midfielder right on the 18-yard line and he struck the sweetest of volleys past a despairing goalkeeper late in the first half.

Juanmi equalized for Getafe in the 90th minute but defender Jon Aramburu gave Sociedad the win when he headed home a corner kick six minutes into stoppage time

The result was a welcome victory for new boss Matarazzo. He replaced Sergio Francisco just before Christmas following Sociedad’s poorest start to a La Liga in a decade.

He led his new charges to a creditable 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in his opener and was fortunate that slack goalkeeping at the late corner contributed to his side’s winner in Getafe.

The result lifted Sociedad into the top half of La Liga, equal on points with Getafe but ahead of it on goal difference.

It was the fifth loss in six games for the Madrid club, which halted a four-game losing streak with a last-minute equalizer last week at Rayo Vallecano.

Venezuelan Aramburu dedicated his goal to his compatriots and stressed Matarazzo’s message was that they need points any which way.

“The boss told us this wouldn’t be the prettiest of games but that we just had to go out and win,” Aramburu said.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer