Having failed to score in their previous two, Valencia thought they had made a lightning start to the match when Hugo Guillamon sent Roman Yaremchuk through on goal in the first 90 seconds. The Ukrainian gave goalkeeper Alex Remiro no chance with a well-struck finish, only for the goal to be disallowed for offside.
Yet only a minute later, Los Ches were behind after Ander Barrenetxea’s deep cross was expertly hooked back across goal by Takefusa Kubo into the path of Silva, who applied the close-range finish.
The hosts looked the more likely to score the second for the rest of the half, with Kubo and Kieran Tierney their most creative outlets despite a lack of genuine chances. Mikel Merino had a penalty appeal for an apparent foul by Cristhian Mosquera waved away on the half-hour before a sweet strike from Benat Turrientes forced Giorgi Mamardashvili into a save.
With only four goals scored in the previous five meetings, it came as little surprise that chances were at a premium following the restart.
It was La Real who stayed on top, however, and Robin Le Normand should have done better when meeting a free-kick with his head, before substitutes Brais Mendez and Sheraldo Becker were the next to test Mamardashvili.
At the other end, Ruben Baraja’s men did not generate their first efforts on goal until the 72nd minute when a loose ball broke to Sergi Canos inside the box, only for the Spaniard’s shot to be saved by Remiro, who showed great reactions to get to his feet and keep out the rebound from Alberto Mari.
Imanol Alguacil’s men regained control of proceedings, and after Becker was denied by Mamardashvili at full stretch in injury time, Sociedad clinched a second win in six to move above Real Betis and into the top-six, some six points clear of the chasing pack.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)
