Real Sociedad 3-2 Deportivo La Coruña result, stats and report

Real Sociedad beat Deportivo La Coruña 3-2 at home on Sunday afternoon. Write that down, because if you watched the match, you would not have guessed it from the stats. Deportivo had more possession, more shots, more dangerous attacks, more corners, more successful dribbles, and more of the ball in every area that matters. They still lost. That is football, and it is also accountability. When you get your decisions wrong at the key moments, you do not get to complain about the scoreline.

A Quick-Fire First Half Decided It Early

Real Sociedad were efficient when it counted. Jon Martín Vicente headed Sociedad in front on 29 minutes, with Carlos Soler picking up the assist. Five minutes later, Arsen Zakharyan doubled the lead with a left-foot finish. Two goals in five minutes. Simple, direct, clinical. That is the basics executed at the right time.

Deportivo's discipline then cost them before the break. David Mella was booked for handball on 40 minutes, a needless moment, and was replaced at half-time by Riki Rodríguez. You cannot afford those lapses when you are chasing the match. Mella put his team in a worse position and then was taken off. Unacceptable.

Gonçalo Guedes made it 3-0 with a left-foot shot on 54 minutes, assisted by Ander Barrenetxea. At that point, the match looked done. It was not. That is where Real Sociedad's afternoon got complicated.

Sociedad Hand It Back

Real Sociedad made two substitutions almost immediately after going 3-0 up, bringing off Guedes and Zakharyan just past the hour. The thing is, when you take off your sharp players with a match still live, you invite pressure. Deportivo pulled one back through Mario Soriano on 61 minutes, a right-foot finish set up by substitute Riki Rodríguez. The foothold Deportivo needed.

Then came the moment that defined the final half hour. Real Sociedad's Pablo Marín was shown a red card on 66 minutes for a professional foul as the last man. Down to ten men. A lead that had been three had become one in five minutes of match time, and now Sociedad were a man short for nearly 25 minutes.

Listen, that is the kind of decision that costs teams points. It was a professional foul, the referee had every right to send him off, and it put Sociedad under enormous pressure. Their own doing.

The penalty came on 69 minutes. Yeremay Hernández stepped up for Deportivo. He scored. Real Sociedad 3, Deportivo La Coruña 2. A match that had looked comfortable was now anything but.

Ten Men Somehow Survive

What followed was a proper fight. Deportivo had 60 per cent of the possession across the match, 21 shots in total to Sociedad's 12, and 75 dangerous attacks to Sociedad's 31. The Real Sociedad goalkeeper made six saves. Six. That is a man who earned his clean sheet attempt and fell just short of it, but those saves kept his side in the match.

Sociedad were sitting deep, competing for every header, and relying on desire more than quality in those final minutes. Say what you want about their performance, they had the attitude when it mattered at the end. That counts for something.

Deportivo then handed their own lifeline back. Lorenzo Amatucci, who had come on as a substitute in the 57th minute, was shown a red card on 90 minutes for another professional foul as the last man. Both teams finished with ten men. Deportivo could not be angry about that one. They had the numbers advantage, they were on top, and they gifted Sociedad an equalising of the arithmetic. When you are the team pushing for a result, you need your substitutes to keep their heads. Amatucci did not.

José María Giménez was also booked for a foul in the 71st minute, adding to a disciplinary record for Deportivo that did them no favours in the second half. Yangel Herrera picked up a late yellow for Sociedad as well, but by then the damage was done on both sides.

The Numbers Tell a Strange Story

Deportivo La Coruña put in numbers across this match that should have won it. Fourteen shots on or around target, 32 total crosses attempted, 10 accurate crosses, 16 successful dribbles, and 66 duels won to Sociedad's 40. They dominated by almost every measure you could point to.

Real Sociedad had 40 per cent possession, made just two accurate crosses, and were reduced to ten men for the final 24 minutes. They still won 3-2. Three goals in the first 54 minutes, a goalkeeper who competed hard, and enough defensive organisation to hold out despite being pinned back. You can question the manner of the victory. You cannot question the result.

The thing is, this is a results business. Deportivo will point to their numbers and feel they deserved more. Maybe they did. But Mella's handball, Amatucci's red card, and the failure to convert their big chances when the match was there to be won all fall on them. Accountability goes both ways.

What This Means Going Forward

In the five La Liga matches before this one, Real Sociedad had won three, drawn one, and lost one, scoring eight and conceding eight. They can score. They also concede. This match confirmed both things in vivid fashion. A clean sheet is still beyond them, and they needed their goalkeeper to make six saves to get over the line.

Deportivo came into this match having won two, drawn two, and lost one across their five La Liga matches before kick-off. They had not kept a clean sheet in any of those five matches. They did not keep one here either. Their attack had enough to threaten any side. Their discipline, particularly in the second half, let them down when it mattered most.

Real Sociedad won. That is the only line that matters on the table. Whether they deserved it is a conversation for people with more patience than me.