Sporting gets its smile back

Two goals in eight minutes

El Molinón's scorer did not waste time making his mark. Only 15 seconds had passed from the opening whistle when Carmona made it 1-0. From the left, Jony crossed the ball to Rulli's near post and the Mallorcan put it right in the back of the net. There was even more joy in Gijón, when at the ninth minute, Ndi put even more distance between the teams. Sanabria tapped the ball with his head and the Cameroonian finished the play with the second goal.

Jony

The Asturian midfielder was unstoppable. Sporting's first two goals came after two marvelous centre crosses from Jony, who charged up the left wing and left Real Sociedad's defense in disarray, proving to be one of Abelardo's key players.

Successful substitutions

There was a surprise in Abelardo's starting line. He did not put Halilovic in the starting lineup and instead Ndi ran onto the field. It was a wise move, since the Cameroonian, along with Jony, was instrumental in the first half, scoring Sporting's second goal and went on to prove his worth over his 75 minutes of play. He was then substituted by Halilovic, who also put on a good show, setting up the fifth goal.

Real Sociedad, growing stronger

With every passing minute, Real Sociedad became more confident. Far from losing their nerve after Sporting's two early goals, the Basque team tried to close the gap and managed it thanks to a great piece of work from Carlos Vela, scoring his third goal of the season. At 2-1, the visitors dominated play, but Sporting again widened the gap on the scoreboard.

Sanabria

On the verge of halftime, at the 43rd minute, the Paraguayan scored Sporting's third goal, just when it seemed that it was Real that was dominating play. After halftime, the striker scored again. Carmona shot after a pass from Jony and Rulli managed to stop the ball, but not hold onto it. The rebound fell right into Sanabria's lap, scoring his team's fourth goal, and his second.