Real Sociedad - Manchester United live online: United finish second, summary, stats, highlights, Europa League 2022/23

Ok, that's all from me tonight. Thank you for joining me and I hope you enjoyed the live coverage of the match (I certainly did).

Make sure to head over to en.as.com for all the post-match reaction!

FT: Real Sociedad 0-1 Manchester United (Garnacho 17')

So here's how it finishes

La Real top the group and Manchester United will face a side knocked out of this year's Champions League.

AND THERE'S THE FINAL WHISTLE!

The Reale Arena erupts in celebration!

It's looking like a defeat but the Real Sociedad fans don't care, they're singing non-stop now.

Cleared away. We're into the final minute. 

Corner for Man Utd... 

Huge cheers as every Man Utd cross is batted away by the Real Sociedad defenders. Tick, tock...

Real Sociedad scarves are swirling around the ground in one last attempt to push their team over the line. 

5 minutes added on...

Flag up; a cross came in from Eriksen but Casemiro was at least a metre behind the defence. Correct decision. 

Off the line!

Man Utd about to throw everything at it here. Only two defenders staying behind, everyone else is in the Real Sociedad box...

Dalot booked for an apparent elbow in the face of Jon.

I'm not joking here - Maguire has come on as a striker, Sergio Ramos style.

Huge cheer from the crowd as Real Sociedad win a corner.

The fans have been excellent tonight.

Real Sociedad dropping deeper and deeper; just 5 minutes to hold on...

Ten Hag's head is shaking in frustration at his side's efforts to break down the block.

Subs!

Real Sociedad:

OFF: Brais, Sørlorth
ON: Zubeldia, Magunazelaia (I shall call him Jon)

Man Utd:

OFF: Garnacho, Eriksen

ON: Fred, Maguire

Both teams preparing changes now...

Sørloth again, this time finding space down the left. He hits a speculative shot but looks absolutely knackered as he does so and it goes well wide. Doesn't look like he can take much more running. 

The game seems to have 'broken', as they say in Spain. End to end attacks now.

Sørloth goes on a Herculean run, holding off what seems like a thousand men, before sending a shot into row z. Ah well.  

Rico goes down after a Ronaldo challenge. The Portuguese forward turns away angrily and storms off. He's just not a happy man anymore, is he?

15 to go... Manchester United still need that second goal...

I didn't get a chance to write it earlier, but the biggest cheer of the night so far was when Cristiano Ronaldo did his best diving salmon impression for the referee, impersonating Carlos Fernández as he [ticks bingo box] complains.

Shot from Guevara wakes the crowd up. Easy save from De Gea.

Sub for Real Sociedad:

OFF: Carlos Fernández

ON: Guevara

Carlos Fernández chance! Over the bar! 

He receives the ball from a throw-in with his back to goal, spins and smacks it over the goal.

Play stopped (again) as Carlos Fernández is down injured. Looks like he got hit in the ribs.

Real Sociedad with some nice possession on the edge of the Man Utd box. Their two strikers do well in holding off the defence, but unfortunately they can't make anything of it.

Half chance for La Real. Brais curls in a looping cross from out on the right and Sørloth's presence means De Gea can't get to it. Goal kick to the English side.

And there's a yellow for Brais Méndez, who's getting increasingly annoyed. It's getting a little spicy in San Sebastián...

Martínez not only gets injured, but a present from the referee. Silly boy. 

Someone in a green shirt is on the floor... let's see what's happened. 

Ouch! Brais gets annoyed at Garnacho and then Martínez comes charging in, sliding on the floor and injuring himself in the process.

Rashford immediately makes an impact and runs incredibly quickly away from everyone, except Pacheco, who stabs it away. He's going to be a new problem for the defence to deal with. 

Subs!

Man Utd: 

OFF: van de Beek, Lindelöf

ON: Rashford, McTominay

Real Sociedad

ON: Elustondo, Navarro

OFF: Gorosabel, Marín

Anyone still got a 'Ronaldo complains' bingo square free? 

To be fair, Le Normand was bear-hugging him.

While the ball is out of play, I'm going to take advantage of the situation and show some love for Mikel Merino. What a fantastic player. 

Double change incoming for the home side...

Half chance for Man United. Eriksen found time and space on the edge of the box and slipped in a ball to van de Beek, who hit the side netting.

Real Sociedad can't afford to let the Man Utd midfielders have that much freedom in such dangerous areas or the game will quickly get away from them.

The home team are really looking to impose themselves on Manchester United here with relentless, direct football. My only worry is that they overcommit and leave space behind... let's see.

 Zubimendi, who has struggled so far to make a mark on the game, fouls Casemiro.

Chance for Real Sociedad! The ball is swung in from the left and Sørloth jumps high to reach it. Over the bar.

In almost identical fashion to the first half, Real Sociedad attack immediately down their left side. Dalot clears.

Let's go!

45 minutes left for Real Sociedad to keep the scoreline down and maintain top spot in the group.

I can see that the players are now lining up in the tunnel. Harry Maguire is doing some interesting leg stretches down the touchline - might we see him?

In case you missed it, the big news coming out of world football is that Barcelona defender, Gerard Piqué is set to retire after the game on Saturday. 

HT scores

Here are the half-time results around Europe:

And there's the half-time whistle. Garnacho's goal the difference.

HT: Real Sociedad 0-1 Manchester United

Well, Real Sociedad will be pretty annoyed by that. They started very brightly, controlling possession and even having a few chances.

But then Manchester United pounced. A long ball from De Gea fell to Ronaldo who played Garnacho in. The young winger did really well to keep hold of the ball and smash it into the top corner. It was a fantastic goal from a really exciting player.

From that point on, the away side started to assert themselves as the protagonists, controlling the possession and making clear chances. But it was Real Sociedad who finished the half in a stronger position, maintaining possession and De Gea ended up making sure Ten Hag's side went into the break with the advantage. 

Remember, for anything the change in the group, Man Utd need to win by 2 goals. It's all to play for in the second half!

Some lovely link-up play from Real Sociedad here, they won't want the half-time whistle to come now...

3 minutes added on.

Play halted for a potential handball in the box from Casemiro. Comes to nothing and the referee waves play on. Better from the home side.

Oh my! What a set of chances for La Real!

De Gea saves a long shot before Marín's header is (somehow) stopped from a few yards out. Incredible reflexes from the Spaniard.

Chance for Ronaldo!

A long ball is terribly handled by Pacheco, who gives it straight to Cristiano, but he puts the bouncing ball on top of the net instead of inside it.

A weak shot from Marín from the edge of the box *shrugs shoulders*

Manchester United look fairly comfortable now, and are just beginning to claw back some possession. They're switching the play and La Real need to make sure their block doesn't drop much deeper, or else Bruno and Eriksen might start to influence.

Manchester United are defending quite well at the back, and are so far keeping Sørloth and Carlos Fernández at bay, which can't be an easy job. They're both absolutely huge!

A dangerous counter attack comes to nothing after Real Sociedad clear. Garnacho linked up well with Ronaldo and Bruno again but the home team did well to track all the runs and covered well. 

Better from Real Sociedad as Sørloth appears out of nowhere to receive the ball inside the box. Manchester United (luckily for them) decide to press and steal the ball from him.

Bruno runs up the other side and hammers in a cross that flies over everyone's head. Even Cristiano can't jump that high.

A long shot from Marín deflects off his teammate and out for a goal kick. About as close as La Real have managed in the last 20 minutes.

The crowd are getting angry. Man Utd have committed a few very cheeky fouls in the past few minutes (in fact, Lindelöf has just smashed Fernández in the head).

The ref finally blows his whistle, but in favour of the away team. 

Left-back Rico got a slice down his leg from Casemiro's boot. Naughty one. Looks like he's been bitten by a lion. 

Chance! Garnacho!

Bruno swings a fabulous pass into the winger. He takes it on his right foot and curls a dangerous shot over the bar. 

And there we go. Back down in pain. He just got absolutely smacked with the ball by Casemiro, who looks shocked, as always.

Looks like he's carrying on, the trooper.

Play has resumed and Merino is back on. Let's hope he holds up OK. 

In other Spanish football news, Gerard Piqué has announced his retirement.

Uh, oh. Mikel Merino down holding his shoulder...

The crowd haven't lost faith, and are trying their best to keep the spirit of the team up.

Dangerous attack from La Real.

The cross comes to nothing, but they're definitely being brave in all aspects of play: productive and direct with the ball, aggressive without it. 

Oh, nice work from Alejandro Garnacho. Takes the ball on the left and runs away like a child who's just stolen some sweets from the shop. Unfortunately, his cross is misplaced and goes out for a throw. 

Real Sociedad with almost 60% of the ball so far.

Manchester United's press is hilarious. Sometimes they want to press, sometimes they don't.Real Sociedad with comfortable possession, switching is from left to right.

Mikel Merino's brain is computing the best way to get through the block.

Anyone got another 'Cristiano complains' square on their bingo card?

Ronaldo protests after falling over in the box. Says he was fouled. Doesn't look like it. 

Hmm, interesting. It appears to be Van de Beek who is actually playing 'in the hole', with Bruno Fernandes closer to Casemiro and Eriksen.

Ronaldo has already lost the ball a few times in the opening minutes. The ex-Madrid man is not a popular figure here.

Both teams looking to press high but it is definitely the home side who are having most of the control.

CHANCE FOR LA REAL

Mikel Merino slipped in Carlos Fernández and he hits the side netting. A wake-up call for Man Utd.

Real Sociedad pressing very high early on and winning the ball back well. Man Utd can't string more than a few passes together.

La Real finding early space down the left, behind Dalot. 

First shot of the match from Brais. High and wide. 

It actually looks like a 4-3-1-2 from Ten Hag. 

And we're off!

Man Utd kick us off from left to right in that green kit of theirs. Real Sociedad in the classic blue and white stripes. It's beautiful.

Blue and white scarves in the air as the player step out onto the pitch...

The light show has commenced as well as, erm, a live band. And they have an accordion. Now that's something you don't expect to see when at a Europa League Group Stage match in northern Spain, but fair enough.

5 minutes to go... final warm-ups are done and the players are inside for the final preparations before kick-off.

For any late arrivals!

If you've just joined us, do not fear! Here are the line-ups for tonight's game:

Real Sociedad XI:Remiro; Gorosabel, Le Normand, Pacheco, Rico; Marín, Merino, Zubimendi, Brais; Sorloth, Carlos Fernández

Man Utd XI: De Gea; Dalot, Martínez, Lindelöf, Shaw; Van de Beek, Casemiro, Eriksen; Bruno Fernandes; Garnacho, Cristiano Ronaldo

Opta at it again

Let's see if La Real can do the same again tonight, despite the injuries.

Just half an hour to go now until the referee blows the whistle - but who will it be?

Well, tonight's official is Georgi Kabakov, from Bulgaria. A great name.

He oversaw the 1-1 draw between PSV and Bødo/Glimt in this season's Europa League, as well as the UEFA Conference League game between FK Austria Wien and Villarreal CF (1-2)

Donny's pre-match words

It's been a while since we've seen the ex-Ajax man on the pitch - I know I'm looking forward to seeing how he gets on.

Fans filling up the ground nicely now. Seeing some football scarves and some fluffy ones - finally! It's been incredibly warm this autumn in Spain. 

Xavi got laughed at when he said "it's shaping up to be a beautiful Europa League", but he's kind of right, isn't he? 

45 minutes to go and the players have just arrived at the stadium. It is actually quite cloudy this evening - let's see if we get a Basque rain shower to welcome the away side.

Here are the other fixtures tonight

Any other matches that catch your eye?

The UEFA teamsheet has Man Utd down as a 4-3-1-2, but they're sometimes a bit unreliable (sorry, UEFA) so let's see what actually happens on the pitch.

As it stands...

This is how Group E looks at the moment: La Real sit 3 points ahead and will win the group if they avoid defeat by 2 goals or more. 

Ten Hag is rightly obsessed about winning this group, since the second-placed team will have to face a side who have dropped out of the Champions League: Ajax and Juventus are possible opponents, as well as FC Barcelona (although perhaps they shouldn't worry too much about them - just check out the match report vs Plzen). 

Here are some stats before the game

As we can see, Real Sociedad have scored just one more than Manchester United, and the away side have also conceded more.

"But Joe, who is Alejandro Garnacho?", I hear you say.

Well, I've got you covered, here is everything you need to know about Garnacho (including a description of a wonderful goal).

Real Sociedad line-up:

And here is how the home start will start the game:

Real Sociedad XI: Remiro; Gorosabel, Le Normand, Pacheco, Rico; Merino, Zubimendi, Marín, Brais Méndez; Sorloth, Carlos Fernández

Manchester United XI

Here's the starting side for the away team today, who will be playing in an interesting shade of green:

Man Utd XI: De Gea; Dalot, Martínez, Lindelöf, Shaw; Van de Beek, Casemiro, Eriksen; Bruno Fernandes; Garnacho, Cristiano Ronaldo

Eric Ten Hag's comments

Here's what the Manchester United boss had to say on the game:

Sun, sea and sand...

It looks just like Manchester!

Injury worries for La Real

Here's the squad for Real Sociedad; some huge names still missing for the home side.

NoSilva, Oyarzabal, Sadiq, Kubo, Aihen, Cho, Barrenetxea or Merquelanz. Quite the list.

Team news:

For the away side, it has been reported that Anthony Martial, Jadon Sancho and Antony have not travelled to Spain for the game. Bad news for them, as San Sebastián is lovely. 

Let's see if that leaves space for Garnacho to start...

Hello and welcome to the live feed for the Real Sociedad - Manchester United game!

It's Joe here and I'll be guiding you through this evening's action.