10-man Real Sociedad snatch dramatic late winner to end Elche hoodoo
Real Sociedad ended an eight-match away winless run in LaLiga with a dramatic 3-2 victory over Elche, despite playing the final half-hour with 10 men.
Job Ochieng scored once and set up two more as La Real claimed their first win over Elche since April 2015.
Match highlight
Sociedad made a quick start on the long trip south. After 11 minutes, Ochieng scored his first goal for the club. Carlos Soler picked up a cleared corner and clipped the ball back into the box, where Ochieng drove a powerful right-footed shot into the corner. It was Sociedad's first away lead of the season.
Luka Sucic soon tested Matias Dituro from distance, but Elche gradually settled. Brighton loanee Facundo Buonanotte fired straight at Unai Marrero from 25 metres, before Ezequiel Ponce sent an effort over from a good position inside the area.
Sociedad took full advantage of that miss in the 31st minute.
Elche captain Pedro Bigas miscontrolled the ball, allowing Ochieng to steal in down the right. The Kenyan squared for Yangel Herrera, whose first-time shot lacked power but somehow slipped through Dituro and into the bottom corner.
Goncalo Guedes almost made it three before half-time, but Dituro saved when Bigas recovered to put him under pressure.
The match turned in a frantic five-minute spell shortly after the hour.
Sucic thought he had scored Sociedad's third, but referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias checked the move on VAR, disallowed the goal and sent off substitute Jon Martin for handball. Martin had denied Elche striker Abiel Osorio a clear scoring chance.
Elche pulled one back almost immediately.
Thomas Lemar, making his debut on loan from Atletico Madrid, struck a sharp right-footed shot from 20 metres into the bottom corner.
With the extra man, Elche pushed on and levelled with just over 15 minutes left. Tete Morente's low ball across the six-yard box found Fer Nino, who controlled it with his chest before finishing from close range.
Nino and Lucas Cepeda then tested Marrero, while Osorio volleyed narrowly wide. But Sociedad found one final response in the 90th minute.
Sucic was not denied this time. He drove into the area and fired an unstoppable left-footed shot into the bottom corner to put the visitors back in front.
There was still time for more drama. Nino nearly equalised in stoppage time, but Marrero made a superb close-range save to preserve Sociedad's win.
Sociedad are now unbeaten in three matches before hosting Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Elche travel to in-form Athletic Club on Saturday still looking for their first league win of the season, having conceded first in every match so far.
