Efficiency, resilience and victory

Real Sociedad made hard work of it, but the three points are theirs after a dramatic afternoon against Deportivo de A Coruña. They built a commanding three-goal lead, only to be pegged back and forced to dig deep for the final hour with ten men.

The opening exchanges were feisty, with Deportivo pressing high and showing no sign of being overawed. Real Sociedad struggled to find their rhythm in the final third, but everything changed before the half hour. A well-delivered corner found Jon Martín, who buried an unstoppable header to break the deadlock. Five minutes later, Zakharyan collected on the edge of the area and whipped a precise left-footer into the net to double the advantage. Deportivo had a chance of their own, but Sarr read the situation brilliantly to cut out a dangerous Yeremay effort.

The second half could not have started better. A lightning counter-attack ended with Guedes lashing a left-footed strike across goal to make it 3-0 and seemingly put the game to bed. But Soriano's strike from outside the box brought Deportivo back into it, and the match took a dramatic turn in the 66th minute when the referee produced a straight red card for Marín following a highly contentious penalty decision. Yeremay stepped up and converted to make it 3-2, and suddenly Real Sociedad were hanging on. The txuri urdin defended with everything they had, absorbing wave after wave of Deportivo pressure. Oyarzabal even had a chance to put it beyond doubt on the break, but Leo Román produced a fine stop to deny the captain.

Three points secured, though not without a few grey hairs along the way. There are no comfortable games, but if they all end in victory, nobody will be complaining.

Match details:

Real Sociedad: Remiro, Marín, Jon Martín, Sarr, Sergio Gómez, Herrera, Soler (Zubeldia, 69'), Zakharyan (Oyarzabal, 56'), Barrene (cap.) (Fort, 88'), Sučić, Guedes (Ochieng, 56').

RC Deportivo: Leo Román, Navarro (Altimira, 57'), Giménez, Ede, Quagliata, Villares (cap.) (Amatucci, 57'), Mella, Soriano, Cruz (Traoré, 57'), Yeremay, Nsongo.

Goals: 1-0 Jon Martín (29'); 2-0 Zakharyan (34'); 3-0 Guedes (54'); 3-1 Soriano (61'); 3-2 Yeremay (pen., 69').

Referee: Miguel Sesma. Bookings: Yangel Herrera (Real Sociedad); Mella, Giménez (Deportivo). Red cards: Marín (Real Sociedad, 66'); Amatucci (Deportivo, 90').