Real Sociedad vs 29.08.26 17:002 – 1Full Time
Espanyol — La Liga: stats, lineups & analysis
Match report
Real Sociedad end losing run with 2-1 win over Espanyol at Anoeta
Real Sociedad beat Espanyol 2-1 in a La Liga Regular Season - 3 fixture at Anoeta, snapping a run of five straight defeats. Barrenetxea gave the hosts an early lead in the fourth minute, finishing off a Mikel Oyarzabal assist, before Roberto Fernández levelled for Espanyol right on the stroke of half-time to make it 1-1 at the break.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Orri Óskarsson restored Real Sociedad's advantage in the 61st minute, again teed up by Oyarzabal, and that proved decisive. The hosts controlled much of the play, edging possession and outshooting Espanyol 17 to 11, with ten of those attempts on target compared to just three for the visitors. Deep into stoppage time, home manager Pellegrino Matarazzo was sent off in the 90+4th minute, but the result was already beyond Espanyol's reach.
The win lifted Real Sociedad to 12th in the table on three points from three games, while Espanyol sit tenth with the same tally. Marko Dmitrović was busy in the Espanyol goal despite the defeat, and his side will have taken some encouragement from keeping the game close until the closing stages.
Marko Dmitrović produced a string of saves to finish as the top-rated performer despite ending up on the losing side, while Roberto Fernández and Orri Óskarsson both scored and were closely rated behind him.
Real Sociedad's ten shots on target to Espanyol's three underlined how much more clinical the hosts were in front of goal.
Real Sociedad beat Espanyol 2–1 (half-time 1–1).
Real Sociedad met Espanyol in the La Liga (Regular Season - 3). Kick-off was Saturday, 29 August 2026, 17:00 UTC at Anoeta. Referee: Manuel Jesus Orellana Cid.
Team pages: Real Sociedad · Espanyol · La Liga
Key moments
- 4' Goal: Ander Barrenetxea (assist: Mikel Oyarzabal) — 1–0 · Watch Ander Barrenetxea's goal video (4')
- 45' Goal: Roberto Fernández (assist: Javi Hernández) — 1–1 · Watch Roberto Fernández's goal video (45')
- 61' Goal: Orri Óskarsson (assist: Mikel Oyarzabal) — 2–1 · Watch Orri Óskarsson's goal video (61')
Starting line-ups
Real Sociedad (4-4-2)
Espanyol (4-2-3-1)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Real Sociedad 54%, the draw 28%, Espanyol 18%. It finished Real Sociedad 2–1 Espanyol.
Real Sociedad's rating edge, but the draw is in play — Real Sociedad are a shade stronger on our strength rating, and their control of the ball plus La Liga home advantage on top give Real Sociedad the lean. The draw at 28% is lifted by the early-season fade in home wins.
Why Real Sociedad at 54%?
Real Sociedad sit 59 points higher on our strength rating — 1811 to 1752. Sides with a 50–100-point rating edge at home won 50.6% of 10,384 such games. Real Sociedad hold 10 more possession points (52 to 42 in recent games) — and between equals, control has been worth something. Between evenly-matched sides, home teams with this control edge won 47.9% of 5,187 games, vs 44.0% when styles were level. La Liga home sides out-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to away wins (28.3% vs 30.2%). La Liga homes won 46.6% of 6,102 games vs 44.9% across all 99,457 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly.
Why only 54%?
Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Real Sociedad's column. Across 10,761 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.0 — negative in every season since 2018.
Why is the draw second, ahead of the Espanyol win?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 26.5%. These teams' recent games average 2.8 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.6% of 24,900. Early-season fixtures add 2.0 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Real Sociedad have shed 75 strength-rating points over their last 10 games. Momentum is measured but not yet proven: sliding sides won 34.7% of 9,671 such games vs 34.5% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it stays at 0 points until the receipt clears its evidence bar. Espanyol are winless in their last 9 visits to Real Sociedad. "Cursed ground" stories don't survive the receipts: winless visitors won 20.4% of 5,641 return visits vs 21.4% class-expected — the rating's own read already covers it. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Real Sociedad vs Espanyol final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this La Liga fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Ander Barrenetxea's goal against Espanyol (4').
- Watch Roberto Fernández's goal against Real Sociedad (45').
- Watch Orri Óskarsson's goal against Espanyol (61').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Real Sociedad 2–1 Espanyol. Explore more on the Real Sociedad and Espanyol team pages or the La Liga page.