Ødegaard and Isak combine to put Real Sociedad among the leading pack
Ødegaard found Isak, who turned inside the box to fire a fine strike past Rubén Blanco. La Real, level on 19 points with Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid.
Real Sociedad's Scandinavian pair - Martin Ødegaard and Aleksander Isak combined to prise open Celta's defence at Balaídos and put the Basque outfit level on 19 points with LaLiga frontrunners Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid.
| Classification | PTS | WM | TM | LM |
|---|
| Upcoming matches |
|---|
| Classification | PTS | WM | TM | LM |
|---|
| Upcoming matches |
|---|
Isak had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes when he struck what turned out to be the winner. It was the sublest of passes by the Norwegian midfielder who, with the outside of his boot, released Isak on the edge of the penalty area - the striker, who was sandwiched between Fran Beltrán and Joseph Aidoo, somehow wriggled free, turned and fired a left-foot strike past Rubén Blanco.
Celta on top for the first 45 minutes
Prior to the breakthrough, La Real had withstood an hour of pressure from the hosts which only subsided when Pape Cheikh was sent off for a second bookable offence on 65 minutes. Santi Mina had gone close twice for Celta - first with a header which brushed the woodwork then later with a fierce shot which was brilliantly put out for a corner by Nacho Monreal.
The result casts more doubts over Fran Escribá's future in Vigo. The Celtiñas drop into the relegation places in 18th with nine points from 10 games. As for Real Sociedad, they are flying - they share 19 points with Barcelona and Atlético at the top of the table and briefly occupied second place on Sunday only to slip down a place after Granada beat Betis.
"Our best game so far this season" - Imanol Alguacil
It was a peformance which pleased La Real coach Imanol Alguacil, who said afterwards: ""It's a very important win for us - against a rival with a great deal of quality and a great coach. It's always a struggle to take three points away from home - and even more against a team of Celta's level. It was probably our best performance so far this season - it's a result which speaks very highly of the team and obviously, I'm very pleased.