Rayo made the better chances at Anoeta and still left with nothing

Real Sociedad beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0 at Anoeta through a second-half goal, while the visitors created more quality than usual and failed to score.

Rayo Vallecano created more than they usually do and still came away from Anoeta with nothing. Expected goals, or xG, is a way of measuring chance quality by adding up how likely each shot was to go in, and Rayo's total of 1.37 was above their usual 1.2 on the road. They did it with fewer efforts than normal, taking only 10 shots against an average of 13.1, so their attempts were better on average even though there were fewer of them.

Real Sociedad had the ball 51% of the time, which is almost exactly their home norm of 51.8%, so possession was nothing out of the ordinary. Their shot count was higher than usual, 17 against a typical 14.4, and 11 of those came from inside the box. Their chance quality, though, was close to what they normally produce, so they simply took more shots without making each one any better.

The only goal arrived in the 67th minute, when Orri Steinn Óskarsson finished a move that Ander Barrenetxea started, and that was enough to decide the match. Óskarsson's performance earned him a rating of 8.2, the highest in the match, and he also had three shots on target. Nobody was sent off, and the four yellow cards were shared between the two sides, two each.

Rayo's problem was getting the ball on target, with three shots on goal and six more that missed. They have scored 1.4 goals per away game this season, and this time they scored none. Their goalkeeper made two saves, while Álex Remiro made three for Sociedad and finished with a rating of 7.0.

Sociedad conceded nothing, against an average of 1.8 goals per home game for them this season, so the result came with a clean sheet. The home side also completed 416 of their 468 passes, about 89%, while Rayo completed 379 of 438, which is about 87%. The gap in accuracy was small, but Sociedad kept more of the ball in dangerous areas.

Sociedad are fifth in La Liga with 19 points from 11 matches, while Rayo are 14th on 12 points from 10. Sociedad's win moves them further from the bottom of the table, and Rayo's failure to score leaves them with the same problem they had on their travels all season.

Player of the matchO. Óskarsson1 goal8.2

Barrenetxea1 assist7.3

L. Sučić2 chances created7.2

Carlos Soler4 chances created7.2