Having majestically pulled as many as 11 points back on Barcelona across the course of just a couple of months, Real Madrid came into this game against Real Sociedad knowing that nothing less than a win would be good enough to maintain their title bid.
Unsurprisingly, Madrid would have much the better of the early going, with the Galacticos having all the early possession and peppering the Sociedad net with what you might refer to as ‘testers’. While they had yet to have a clear cut chance, all the signs were there that it would happen sooner rather than later.
As the match progressed however, Sociedad would slowly edge their way back into the game – with Liga BBVA legend Xabi Prieto coming close to putting the home side into a shock lead. Zinedine Zidane’s men needed to keep their eye on the prize here.
Heading into the break the scores would remain level, with Sociedad if anything looking like the side more likely to grab the go-ahead goal. Surely, after all their recent hard work, Madrid weren’t going to through away their title challenge here?
As the second half progressed that looked more and more likely, with Sociedad continuing to look the better of the two sides. 65 minutes in, the score remained at 0-0, with the home team starting to take control of the contest.
However, just as things seemed utterly bleak for Real Madrid, their star man from this season, Gareth Bale, would pop up to head home from a Lucas Vasquez cross and hand the Galacticos an eightieth minute lead. Had the Welshman saved Madrid’s title hopes?
The answer would be yes, with Madrid running out the eventual 1-0 winners. With Atletico Madrid and Barcelona still yet to play, Zidane’s men amazingly went top of the table. Two months ago that would have seemed impossible.
Scoring Summary: Real Sociedad – No Goals; Real Madrid – Bale (80)
