SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain: Turkish teenager Arda Guler’s strike helped Real Madrid close in on the Spanish title with a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad on Friday, moving 14 points clear at the top of La Liga.

After last weekend’s Clasico win over second place Barcelona it appears a formality for Madrid to take the title back from their arch-rivals, and Guler helped them move one step closer.

The playmaker, 19, has endured an injury-hit season but on his first league start snatched a heavily rotated Madrid side a tight victory at the Reale Arena.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti rested virtually his entire first choice team with Tuesday’s Champions League semifinal visit to face Bayern Munich in mind.

Top scorer Jude Bellingham was on the bench after recovering from a stomach problem to earn a late addition to the squad list, alongside Vinicius Junior, Toni Kroos and various other stars.

As a result Madrid conjured little in attack beyond Guler’s goal, with the hosts, sixth, on top in driving San Sebastian rain.

“Arda scored a goal, Arda will be an important player for us in the future, there’s no doubt he’ll be here next year,” Ancelotti told reporters, also praising his team’s commitment despite the rotations.

“It was quite clear that everyone thought we were coming here for a stroll, the only ones who didn’t think so were the players,” he continued.

“I am proud of the players because they had the desire and will to keep winning... I have to thank them because from that point of view, they were spectacular.”

Madrid goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, on loan from Chelsea, pushed away a Takefusa Kubo effort as La Real continued to probe.

Ancelotti also gave defender Eder Militao his first start after his long-term knee injury.

The Brazilian looked uncertain but Real Sociedad could not capitalize, with Benat Turrientes firing narrowly over.

Despite previously failing to generate openings of their own, Madrid took the lead in the 29th minute.

Aurelien Tchouameni swept the ball out to Dani Carvajal on the right, who stroked a low ball across the area.

It was a perfectly placed pass by the Spain international — playing seemingly only as he is suspended for the visit to Munich — and Guler arrived in the right place at the right time to finish.

Kubo thought he had pulled Real Sociedad level against his former side before the break when he beat Militao and slotted home, but Ander Barrenetxea was penalized for a foul on Tchouameni in the buildup.

“Barrene went to steal the ball and the only thing I can say is that the player who loses it was sleeping,” Kubo told Movistar.

Arrizabalaga pushed a Turrientes effort wide in the second half and Ancelotti called on the cavalry for the final 25 minutes, sending Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde into the fray.

Another substitute, Antonio Rudiger, made a vital block on an attempted Oyarzabal dink to deflect the forward’s effort behind for a corner.

Alex Remiro made a fine save to deny Eduardo Camavinga late on as the reinforced visitors took control in five minutes of added time to see out the win.

The match was brought forward to Friday from Saturday at little more than a week’s notice, to help Madrid prepare for their Champions League match at Bayern.

“It’s a pity, whoever watched the game knew that we deserved to win,” added Kubo.

“It’s a pity for the fans, because of the rain, the change of schedule... all that rubbish.”

Barcelona face Valencia on Monday in La Liga but the Catalans have all but thrown in the towel in the title race.

Madrid’s performance was decidedly forgettable but they are eyeing a league and Champions League double for the fifth time in their history — and that would be something to remember.
 

ADELAIDE, Australia: After shooting a bogey-free 9-under 63 to grab the first-round lead at LIV Golf Adelaide, Iron Heads GC’s Jinichiro Kozuma credited his putting prowess with helping him get through “some troubles here and there.”

 His teammate and Friday playing partner Danny Lee, sitting next to Kozuma during the post-round press conference, was perplexed. “Trouble? What trouble?”

Indeed, the 29-year-old Kozuma seemed to have almost no trouble during the first round at The Grange Golf Club. He was 8 under after his first 11 holes and never gave up the lead on a day of low scoring before enthusiastic jampacked crowds at The Grange.

Kozuma will take a one-shot advantage into Saturday’s second round over Lee and Torque GC’s Carlos Ortiz. Four players are tied for fourth, two shots back – Mito Pereira (Torque), Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats GC), Andy Ogletree (HyFlyers GC) and Anirban Lahiri (Crushers GC).

Torque GC owns the team lead by shooting 20 under, the lowest first-round counting score by any team this year. Besides the contributions from Ortiz and Pereira, captain Joaquin Niemann — who leads the Individual Championship standings this season thanks to two individual wins — contributed a 67.

The Iron Heads are one shot back in second, while HyFlyers GC is third at 17 under. Crushers GC, who lead the season-long team race, are in fourth at 16 under. The hometown favorites Ripper GC, captained by Cameron Smith, are fifth at 15 under.

Kozuma, who’s in his first full year in LIV Golf after earning a spot via the Promotions tournament during the offseason, is leading for the first time after any round in his nine LIV Golf starts. His family is attending its first LIV Golf tournament this week to watch him play.

“I wanted to play really well in front of my family and impress all the family,” said Kozuma, whose round was highlighted by a 40-foot eagle putt. “I guess I got to do that, and I’m really happy about that.”

Non-captain teammates played together in the same group on Friday, and Kozuma and Lee will be together again in Saturday’s second round. They hope it will lead to another day of feeding off
each other.

“Whatever I was doing today and whatever Jinny was doing today worked out pretty good,” said Lee, the winner last year in Tucson. “We’re going to just enjoy each other’s company and keep our head down, keep making putts.”

Ortiz and Pereira also excelled together in the all-Torque group.

“It was really nice playing with these guys,” Ortiz said. “They holed out two holes in a row, so it felt like we were getting some momentum our way. Really happy the way I played, and just get it going.”

Kozuma, Lee, Pereira and Ogletree are among eight individual players who have yet to produce points (top 24 finish) through the first five tournaments this season. That they posted strong opening rounds at Adelaide is an indication that better results may be on
the horizon.

“Not the start (to this season) that I would like,” said Pereira, who finished eighth in the season-long standings last year. “… But trying to work hard to get my game back where it was last year, or
even better.”

For Kozuma and Lee, the focus for the next two rounds is not on points but just playing well and building on the momentum of Friday’s hot start.

“You can’t get too caught up in that kind of stuff,” said Lee, who was slowed by offseason surgery on his wrist. “I feel like that’s only putting a lot of pressure on yourself, so you’ve just got to let it go and keep your head down and just keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

Added Kozuma: “I don’t want to think too much about the points. I want to just enjoy where I’m at right now and play.”