At the Philips Stadium, PSV fell short of a 2-2 draw against Real Sociedad. There were powerful moments from the team but not enough to take the victory.
High pressure, many chances
From the first ball capture, PSV refused to let go. A smoothly combining team had its eyes set on the opening goal. The team put high pressure from the first second. As a result, the Basque opponent regularly lost the ball themselves. Partly because of this, the first chance came for Eran Zahavi, who made a worthy attempt from distance, but hit goalkeeper Remiro. On the ball, PSV maintained supremacy, but Real Sociedad's compact defense was not easy to break through. The Basques' first exploit came through former Eredivisionist Alexander Isak, who found plenty of space, but André Ramalho kept an overview and stopped the striker before he could become dangerous.
Heightened tension
The bulk of the chances came from the home side. Among others through Mario Götze and Noni Madueke. Both made worthy attempts toward the Spanish goal, but to no avail. A chance from Real Sociedad added to the tension, a flaming shot from the visitors deflected off the crossbar. The first goal finally came for Götze. A crafty cross from Madueke was hard to stop, allowing the German to tap in. However, the celebration was short-lived. Real Sociedad immediately countered by scoring from the rebound. That did not diminish their fighting spirit, however. Within minutes, Marco van Ginkel made a worthy attempt to regain the lead, but the shot was keepable for Remiro. It was the visitors who finally connected. A low cross was headed in for the 1-2. With a deficit, the halftime signal sounded.
Vinícius debut
PSV came out of the locker room with something to make up for and it showed in the game. The fire was opened on the opponent's goal. After several combinations and dangerous moments, Gakpo managed to pull the trigger. The striker was put in position by an excellent pass from Götze and coolly shot in. The tie came back on the board and the football battle continued. From a corner kick another attempt was made by Armando Obispo which just fell into the hands of Remiro. With half an hour left on the clock came the first tactical change at PSV, including the debut of Carlos Vinícius. The Brazilian made his first minutes for the club and could hunt for a debut goal.
Self-confidence
The last quarter of an hour found extra self-confidence in the hunt for the lead. Real Sociedad's sixteen-meter area was searched frequently. With Vinícius, head power was brought in which Jordan Teze tried to take advantage of with high crosses. It was the right back who eventually got a great chance out of nowhere after a cross from Gakpo, but the shot was too difficult to get inside. The power came into Eindhoven's hands. Ball after ball was headed toward the Spanish goal. A distance shot by Teze still came close to the decision but to no avail. Real Sociedad had one more dangerous moment from a counter, but a very clever save by Joël Drommel kept the goal empty. Despite the supremacy, PSV must settle for a point in the first match of the UEFA Europa League group stage.
