Real Sociedad find out that Rayo Vallecano may go down but never out in pendulum clash

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, prodding the ball into the corner for the equaliser, and what Inigo Perez might refer to as the perfect response.

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, 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, with Pablo Martin setting Sergio Gomez loose on the left, and Cardenas rushing out to smother 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 Cardenas. 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 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, 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 down Alex Remiro 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 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. Gerard Gumbau thumped shots goalwards, but most were met with blocks. In the 95th minute, it looked as if Pathe Ciss had had the chance. He nodded a corner wide in stoppage time.

Beyond football, tactics or quality, all game Rayo had demonstrated an inspirational ability believe in their capacity to reverse their fortunes. With moments to go in stoppage time, right-back Ratiu appeared in the opposition six-yard box to nod in 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.