Rayo Vallecano 3-3 Real Sociedad
Rayo Vallecano authored a mythical comeback against Real Sociedad on Sunday, overhauling a two-goal deficit, and a two-goal swing that would have buried most teams into defeat. The Txuri-Urdin will be wondering how the three points escaped, perhaps feeling the effects of a wearying week that began with feverish celebrations.
The Copa del Rey champions had a smooth start to the game, slipping past Rayo defenders with relative ease. Ander Barrenetxea forced a good save from Dani Cardenas in the opening five minutes, before efforts from Orri Oskarsson and Takefusa Kubo were deflected narrowly beyond either post. La Real had done their homework and seemed to be reading Rayo’s intentions at every turn. From there a counter-attack resulted in a delicious Mikel Oyarzabal ball across the six-yard box that, untouched, leaving a wake of spooked Rayo defenders behind.
In the 18th minute, Rayo had their first clear opening. Following his winner against Espanyol on Thursday night, Sergio Camello was given just his fifth league start, but couldn’t capitalise on a free header at the far post, Andrei Ratiu given time to pick him out from the right. Neither side was looking particularly clinical, but Oyarzabal was the image of composure when he got his chance. After nice work between Barrenetxea and Benat Turrientes, the ball was slipped behind Pathe Ciss for the Real captain. Cutting in on his left, he dummied two defenders before finding the bottom right corner, Dani Cardenas rooted to the spot.
Rayo’s reponse was good. The Camello chance foreshadowed their most dangerous outlet, Ratiu on the right, who shot down the flank and got to the by-line a minute later. Carlos Martin converted his ball across, but Ratiu was ajudged to have handled when he controlled the first pass. Isi Palazon whistled a shot over the bar, but again Rayo found the soft spot on Real Sociedad’s left in the 31st minute. This time Ilias Akhomach found Camello, and he turned onto his left inside the area, prodding the ball into the corner for the equaliser, and what Inigo Perez might refer to as the perfect response. The first of many.
Flooding forward, the Real Sociedad assurance of the opening 25 minutes was erased, and Rayo sought the second immediately afterwards, but eventually La Real did eventually weather the storm. With both sides having dealt with periods of pressure, and spells of dominance, the final 10 minutes of the first half ended with relative balance.
Matarazzo changes swing pendulum to Real Sociedad
Without generating the corresponding chances, Rayo were certainly the more comfortable of the two sides after the break, trying to spring free runs from deep behind the Real Sociedad defence, and narrowly missing on several occasions. The Txuri-Urdin were making mistakes on the ball, and Pellegrino Matarazzo went from a formation with four forwards, to one with with four central midfielders. Almost immediately it paid dividends. Pablo Marin set Sergio Gomez loose on the left, and Cardenas was forced to rush out, smothering Carlos Soler’s connection with the cutback.
Then Cardenas pushed Oskarsson’s effort wide after Soler and Oyarzabal created a space for him in the box, but moments later the Icelandic forward did beat him. This time it was a one-two between Gomez and Soler, the former picking out Oskarsson in the box, and much like Camello in the first half, he pulled the defence one way with his control, and finished in the other, picking out the bottom left corner from the centre of the box.
Such was Rayo’s indomitable spirit, that the next play Ratiu blasted at the Real Sociedad goal, Alex Remiro pushing wide this time. Just as in the first half, Rayo thought they were level minutes later. A clipped ball in behind was met with the perfect knockdown by Alemao, and Pedro Diaz sat Remiro down before finishing. Yet La Real had appealed for a penalty in the play before on Pablo Marin. After a four-minute review, Oyarzabal stepped up to fire the ball high and central beyond the helpless Cardenas from the spot. A sequence that represented a two-goal swing, an eight-minute delay, and what was surely the decisive goal.
The spirit of Vallecas remains unmatched
Remarkably unperturbed by that setback, Rayo came on strong again. With five minutes to go, Lejeune knocking in from close range after a Martin flick-on. The crowd, furious with the penalty decision, needed no excuse to fuel the Rayo side, and Perez’s men rumbled forward as the clock ticked into stoppage time. Gerard Gumbau thumped shots goalwards, but most were met with blocks, the Real Sociedad defence now just hoping to survive in their own box. In the 95th minute, it looked as if Pathe Ciss had had the chance, nodding a corner wide.
Beyond football, tactics or quality, all game Rayo had demonstrated an inspirational ability believe in their capacity to reverse their fortunes. In the 99th minute, right-back Ratiu appeared in the opposition six-yard box to head home a clipped Fran Perez ball to the back post. Vallecas just about remained in its foundations as Ratiu whipped of his shirt and launched himself into the sea of fans. Behind him, a wave of Rayo teammates, playing or not, joined him.
After 15 minutes of added time and seemingly interminable drama, the referee was mimicked with a chorus of angry whistles, when he used his for the final time. Perez would no doubt have preferred his Rayo side to come away with all of the points, but the fiery resolve of his players will no doubt reassure him that this side has enough to remain in La Liga. Ahead of the bottom four playing, Rayo move five points clear of the drop.
If there were any sore heads left over from their Copa victory, the Real Sociedad players will not have appreciated the Vallecas ringer they were put through, which in the final half hour, was a blender of noise, colour and frenzied pressure. La Real remain 8th, the seven-point gap to Real Betis in 5th now looking rather distant with five games to go.
