Result: Atletico Madrid 2-1 Real Sociedad
Date: 12 May 2021
Venue: Wanda Metropolitano Stadium
Atletico Madrid pulled four points clear at the top of the LaLiga table after edging Real Sociedad 2-1 on Wednesday evening.
Atletico made only one change from the draw with Barcelona, as Saul was recalled in place of Thomas Lemar, with Angel Correa partnering Luis Suarez upfront.
The hosts had a bright start after Yannick Carrasco fired them ahead in the 16th minute with a low drive underneath goalkeeper Alex Remiro after he was teed up by Marcos Llorente from a short corner.
Diego Simeone's charges were soaking up the pressure and caught Sociedad on a counter-attack just before the half-hour mark, as Correa doubled their lead with a composed finish into the bottom corner after a through ball by Suarez.
The visitors kept on attacking and Alexander Isak came close to pulling a goal back nine minutes before the break with a threatening strike inside the box that was saved by shot-stopper Jan Oblak and Atletico went to the break with their two-goal cushion intact.
Sociedad were on the front foot in the early exchanges of the second stanza but they could not get past Atletico's deep block and Imanol Alguacil made a double change on the hour-mark, bringing on Jon Pacheco in place of Modibo Sagnan at the back while Roberto Lopez replaced Nacho Monreal in a tactical and attacking move.
The visitors started to get openings after that, as Portu came close to pulling a goal back seven minutes later with a first-time volley that was tipped wide by Oblak.
Simeone made a double change in the 73rd minute, as Joao Felix replaced Correa for fresh legs upfront while Geoffrey Kondogbia came on for Saul to shore up the midfield.
However, Igor Zubeldia finally pulled a goal back for Alguacil's troops in the last seven minutes with a close-range strike after a ball landed on his path from a corner.
Sociedad had the momentum in the dying minutes, forcing Atletico to defend in numbers but the hosts desperately held on to a win that saw them go four points clear of second-placed Barcelona and five points away from third-placed Real Madrid, who are in action on Thursday.
