Real Sociedad Hold On With Ten Men to Steal Three Points at Martinez Valero After Erasing Elche's Comeback

Real Sociedad went up 0-2 and then had to play more than half an hour with a man sent off, yet still walked away with all three points from Martinez Valero. The final score, 2-3, leaves Elche feeling like the comeback slipped through their fingers, while the Basque side picked up a win in LaLiga that turned out far more complicated than it should have been.

The match followed a clear script early on. Real Sociedad struck first, in the 10th minute, when Job Ochieng curled a shot into the top corner after a corner kick delivered by Carlos Soler. Before halftime, in the 31st minute, Yangel Herrera doubled the lead with a low shot from inside the box, again assisted by Ochieng. At 0-2, the visitors headed into the locker room in control of a match in which they had dominated the final third.

The turning point: a red card, VAR and Elche's response

The second half flipped on its head in the space of about three chaotic minutes. In the 60th minute, VAR chalked off a goal from Luka Sucic after a review, with confirmation that it would not stand arriving two minutes later. Right after that, in the 63rd minute, Jon Martin was shown a red card, leaving Real Sociedad with ten men for the rest of the match.

Elche made the extra man count. Thomas Lemar, just off the bench, pulled one back in the 66th minute with a low shot from outside the box after an assist from Victor Chust. Barely seven minutes later, in the 73rd minute, Fer Nino leveled the score with a close-range finish that made it 2-2 and lit up Martinez Valero.

The equalizer, though, did not last. Deep into stoppage time, in the 89th minute, Luka Sucic popped up again, this time with no review to spoil the celebration, and finished with his left foot to make it a final 2-3. Despite playing a man down for well over half an hour, Real Sociedad held on to the lead until the final whistle.

The numbers behind Elche's dominance

The stats show an Elche side that took control of the match, even if it wasn't enough to get anything out of it. The home team dominated possession and created more chances, but the visitors' sharpness in the key moments proved decisive.

That dominance also showed up in the expected goals figures calculated after the match based on the shots taken: Elche generated 2.94 xG compared to Real Sociedad's 0.879. It's our own estimate, not an official figure, but it backs up what was clear on the field: Elche deserved more than what the scoreboard ultimately showed.

What the preview said

Before kickoff, our projection had split the odds fairly evenly: 34% for an Elche win, 28% for a draw and 38% for a Real Sociedad victory, with total expected goals of 2.89. The final result fell within that range of uncertainty, though the path to get there, the visitors' early lead, the red card and Elche's failed comeback, was far bumpier than any number could have predicted.

Takeaways from the match

For Elche, the loss confirms a tough start to the season in the standings, while Real Sociedad add a win that came the hard way, holding on to the result even with a man down for a good chunk of the second half. The match had a bit of everything: early goals, a VAR review that shifted the momentum, a red card that could have proved costly for the visitors, and an ending that was decided in the very last gasp.