The decision to rest Saturday’s hat-trick hero Karim Benzema, coupled with Vinicius Junior’s suspension, meant that Carlo Ancelotti was always likely to rely on unusual suspects up top.
Sure enough, Aurelien Tchouameni’s stinging shot and Eder Militao’s looping header both called Alex Remiro into action early on, but Sociedad boss Imanol Alguacil will have been pleased to see his side apply pressure thereafter.
Alexander Sorloth and David Silva began a frenzied period by blazing over from close range, before Martín Zubimendi undoubtedly produced one of the misses of the season, thumping the crossbar from two yards out, with the cliché ‘easier to miss than score’ rarely more applicable.
The hosts came out swinging after the break, with Kubo leading the charge to make amends for their first-half wastefulness, and he kick-started Sociedad’s route to victory by pouncing on Militao’s misplaced back-pass to slot past Thibaut Courtois.
As the second period unfolded, things went from bad to worse for Los Blancos, with Dani Carvajal shown a yellow card for taking his frustration out on referee Juan Luis Pulido.
The Spaniard was left red-faced a few minutes later when a crunching challenge saw him dismissed, reducing Madrid to 10 men before substitute Ander Barrenetxea sealed the win with a low, drilled finish after cutting in from the left.
Sociedad notched a third consecutive clean sheet in taking their latest league scalp, giving Alguacil extra satisfaction after clinching his first career victory over Ancelotti.
The Real Madrid boss has bigger fish to fry, however, with the Copa del Rey final coming up on Saturday and a bumper European showdown with Manchester City pencilled in next week.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alexander Sorloth (Real Sociedad)
