Mikel Oyarzabal scores twice as Real Sociedad put five past Málaga, winning 5-2 at La Rosaleda

Real Sociedad were ahead inside three minutes and never looked back, scoring five times away at La Rosaleda to beat Málaga 5-2. Takefusa Kubo had a hand in three of them — a goal and two assists — and Mikel Oyarzabal struck twice in the space of eight second-half minutes either side of a brief Málaga rally.

Match facts

• 3' — Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), assist Héctor Fort
• 26' — Orri Óskarsson (Real Sociedad)
• 54' — Adrián Niño (Málaga), assist Pablo Martínez
• 59' — Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), assist Takefusa Kubo
• 66' — Pablo Martínez (Málaga), volley
• 67' — Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), assist Jon Martín
• 73' — Gonçalo Guedes (Real Sociedad)

Kubo set up Héctor Fort's early strike before Orri Óskarsson made it two inside the half-hour, and Real Sociedad led 2-0 at the break without having needed a second gear. Málaga found one goal through Adrián Niño just after half-time, only for Oyarzabal to restore the two-goal gap five minutes later, assisted by Kubo. Pablo Martínez volleyed a second back for the hosts on 66, but within a minute Oyarzabal had his second of the night, this time teed up by Jon Martín, and Gonçalo Guedes completed the scoring on 73, Real Sociedad's fifth of the night, to put the result beyond doubt.

Cards

• 37' — Jon Martín (Real Sociedad), yellow
• 62' — Mamadou Sarr (Real Sociedad), yellow

Two very different runs of form

Real Sociedad came into the match on three wins from their previous four league games, the one defeat a 0-3 loss at home to Atlético Madrid, and had scored at least two goals in three of their last four. Málaga, by contrast, remain without a win in the league all season — two draws and two defeats in their last five, and only three goals scored across that run before this one. The gap in confidence showed from the opening minutes.

What's next

Málaga had gone into the round bottom of La Liga on 4 points from eight games, still without a win, and stay there after their fifth defeat of the season, from nine games played. Real Sociedad had been 6th on 13 points from eight games; five goals and a win on the road should move them further up the table once the standings are updated for the rest of matchday 9.