Valencia played Real Sociedad at Mestalla in La Liga's seventh round on Sunday evening and lost 2-3. The visitors took the lead through Luka Sučić in the twenty-sixth minute before Carlos Soler equalised from the spot after an hour. Real Sociedad then scored twice in the final ten minutes, a Luken Beitia Aguirregomezcorta own goal and Ander Barrenetxea's late strike, to complete the turnaround.
By then the visitors had already made three changes, bringing on Mikel Oyarzabal and Job Ochieng together in the sixty-first minute. They followed with Guido Rodríguez and Sergio Gómez, then Jon Gorrotxategi in the sixty-ninth. The coaching staff clearly sensed blood and kept the pressure on.
Valencia responded by sending on Hugo Duro and José Gayà, who had picked up a yellow card earlier, in the eighty-second minute. But the momentum was already shifting. Beitia Aguirregomezcorta turned against his side in the eighty-fourth minute, and Barrenetxea added the third just before the hour was up.
And here's the thing about matches like this — they are decided in three or four moments, not across ninety minutes. The penalty gave Valencia hope, but the away end never stopped pressing after that. When Orri Steinn Óskarsson received a red card in stoppage time, the game had already slipped away.
To be fair, the statistics tell a different story. Valencia held 54 per cent possession and created more shots, but Real Sociedad's expected goals of 2.65 suggested they were the more dangerous side. Three shots on target were enough for them, while Valencia's five shots on target produced only one goal.
Valencia remain in nineteenth place with four points from seven games, while Real Sociedad sit eighth with ten. The hosts have won just once this season and lost five, while the visitors have three wins and three defeats. This result extends their recent struggles at home, having lost four of their last five matches across all competitions.
