Japan attacker Takefusa Kubo netted the opener as Real Sociedad secured a 2-0 home win over his former club Real Madrid in the Spanish La Liga on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old capitalized on Real defender Militao's misplaced back pass to keeper Thibaut Courtois and swept the ball home two minutes after the break at Reale Arena, scoring in the second straight game for his eighth league goal of the season.
"There were lots of scenes where Militao was passing back in the first half," Kubo said. "The pass was wayward thanks to the press from (Alexander) Sorloth and all I had to do was put it away with composure."
Dani Carvajal was sent off for his second yellow in the 61st minute for the visitors and Sociedad substitute Ander Barrenetxea completed the scoring with a low effort from inside the box five minutes from time.
Kubo joined Real Madrid from FC Tokyo in the summer of 2019 but never played a competitive match for them, spending three seasons on loan instead at Mallorca, Villarreal and Getafe, all in the Spanish top tier.
The former Barcelona youth player joined Sociedad from the capital side last summer on a permanent deal.
"It's not because I was at the club, but there's no reason not to get motivated playing against probably the world's best club at the moment," Kubo said after facing his former club.
Sociedad have won all the league games that Kubo scored in for this season.
"Personally I want to score a bit more, but I think I should genuinely welcome the fact that we're winning when I score," he said. "Scoring to contribute to wins in difficult matches like today is one of my ideals as a player, and things really couldn't have gone better today."
Following a patchy spell, Sociedad are back on course to secure a top-four finish required for next season's participation in the Champions League.
"We've made lots of shooting chances today and against Osasuna (on Friday), we've been pinning them back to an extent that you almost just see our chances in the highlights," Kubo said.
"We kept a clean sheet while attacking them overwhelmingly, albeit there was a sending-off...I didn't really feel like we would lose while playing."
Ritsu Doan was taken off at half time as Freiburg were soundly beaten 5-1 in the German Cup semifinals at home by defending champions Leipzig.
Related coverage:
Football: Kubo nets 7th league goal of season in Sociedad win
Football: Takefusa Kubo sets La Liga scoring record for Japanese player
Football: Nishimura goal gives Japan friendly draw with Uruguay
