Atletico Madrid scored three times in the final 10 minutes to beat Real Sociedad 3-0 in San Sebastian, extending La Real’s winless top-flight head-to-head run against Atleti to 14 meetings – a negative club record against their opponents.
Diego Simeone’s side had lost away to Athletic Club and Liverpool in the previous week, but looked determined to avoid a third consecutive defeat on the road.
Atletico controlled much of a closely contested opening half-hour without finding a breakthrough. Lee Kang-In sent a promising effort narrowly wide before Morten Hjulmand headed off target from close range.
With Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth absent, the visitors lacked a clear focal point in attack. Real Sociedad threatened first when Luka Sucic drove a shot wide at the far post, while Sergio Gomez then forced a good save from Jan Oblak with a free-kick before the interval.
The second half began cautiously, prompting Simeone to make three substitutions on the hour. Jonathan David, Johnny Cardoso and Koke came on, and the changes almost produced an immediate reward when Alex Remiro kept out a low effort from Alejandro Grimaldo.
Although Atletico had lost five of their previous 10 matches in all competitions, they continued to commit players forward and increased the pressure as the final 20 minutes approached. Cardoso fired another long-range attempt wide, while David and Hjulmand also came close.
The breakthrough arrived in the 82nd minute after Job Ochieng was penalised for handball inside the penalty area. Grimaldo took responsibility and calmly sent Remiro the wrong way to score his first Atletico goal.
Real Sociedad attempted to respond in the closing stages, but Atletico quickly removed any doubt about the outcome.
David doubled the lead by sweeping a composed finish into the bottom corner from Grimaldo’s pass. Giuliano Simeone then raced through on the counter-attack and finished emphatically past Remiro to complete the scoring.
The victory lifted Atletico Madrid up to fourth in the early-season standings, while Real Sociedad extended their unwanted run against Atleti in the top flight to 14 matches without a win.
Alejandro Grimaldo was named Flashscore’s Man of the Match for Atletico Madrid.