Real Sociedad 2 - Atlético Madrid 1

Real Sociedad: Alberto; López Rekarte, Kvarme, Jauregi, Aranzábal; Xabi Alonso (Aramburu 55'), Alkiza; Karpin, Nihat (Boris 92'), Gabilondo (Xabi Prieto 81'); Kovacevic. 4-2-3-1.
Atlético: Sergio Aragoneses; Gaspar, Lequi, Simeone, Sergi; Gabi, De los Santos (Rubén Olivera 73'); Aguilera (Novo 83'), Ibagaza, Nano (Paunovic 45'); Fernando Torres. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Real: Jauregi, Alkiza, Gabilondo for Schürrer, Aramburu, Lee Chun Soo / Atlético: Gaspar, Lequi, Gabi for García Calvo, Jorge, Nikolaidis.

Goals:
1-0. 35. Karpin (penalty). After Lequi pushed over Kovacevic in area..
2-0. 42. Simeone (own goal). Turned Karpin cross past own keeper.
2-1. 71. Paunovic. Header inside near post from long Ibagaza free kick.

Real Sociedad bounced back from their elimination from the Champions' League with a 2-1 win over Atlético Madrid which takes them clear of the relegation zone. As fate would have it, all five Madrid based sides in the top two divisions played on Saturday, two days after the terrorist attacks, and for once the crowd (with one or two unfortunate exceptions) gave a genuine welcome to the Madrid regional flag, which had pinned to it the black lace which has come to symbolize solidarity with the victims.

The match got off to a dull start though, and there was little action until ten minutes before the break, when Kovacevic was pushed over by Lequi in the area and Karpin converted the resulting penalty. And before the half time whistle Real went two up when Simeone turned Karpin's cross past his own keeper.

Manzano brought on Paunovic for the second half though, and the Serbian midfielder pulled one back with a header from Ibagaza's free kick with twenty minutes to go. That set up a frantic finale, with Atlético keeper Sergio Aragoneses making three or four top notch saves and the visitors almost scoring themselves on a couple of occasions before Real's Alkiza was sent off in injury time. Despite the defeat though, Atlético stay in sixth spot.