Sociedad punishes 10-man Valencia

LA LIGA RESULTS

 

Friday, November 30
Home		Road
Osasuna	1-0	Vallecano
Saturday, December 1
Getafe	1-0	Malaga
Valencia	2-5	Sociedad
Barcelona	5-1	Bilbao
Real Madrid	2-0	Atletico Madrid
Sunday, December 2
Granada	0-0	Espanyol
Deportivo	2-3	Real Betis
Celta	1-1	Levante
Mallorca	1-1	Zaragoza
More: Scores | Stats | La Liga

 

Real Sociedad moved into seventh in the Primera Division with a comprehensive 5-2 demolition of 10-man Valencia at the Mestalla.

Roberto Soldado's second-minute strike had given the hosts an early lead but they were never in control and were pegged back before half-time as Alberto de la Bella fired in an equalizer minutes after Jonas had seen a straight red card for lashing out at David Zurutuza.

Sociedad took control in the second period as further goals from Mikel Gonzalez, Diego Ifran, Imanol Agirretxe and Carlos Vela rendered Soldado's second of the evening meaningless.

A first home defeat of the season for Valencia sees them slip to 12th, but they had got off to the perfect start as a fantastic crossfield pass from Fernando Gago found Juan Bernat on the left and his low driven cross was slotted home at the near post by Soldado.

Getafe moved level on points with Malaga in fourth thanks to Alberto Lopo's solitary goal 11 minutes into the second half.

Neither side hit top gear in a pedestrian opening period but the game came to life after Lopo nipped in between Eliseu and Willy Caballero to head home Pedro Leon's corner just after the break.

Malaga will feel they should have had an equaliser as Roque Santa Cruz lifted the ball over with a glorious opportunity moments after coming on, before Miguel Angel Moya produced a stunning save to turn Javier Saviola's fierce shot from close range onto the bar 12 minutes from time.

However, Getafe held on to register their third consecutive league victory despite having Diego Castro sent off in stoppage time for a soft second yellow card.