Sociedad thrill late to deny Malaga

Real Sociedad produced an incredible fightback in the final two minutes to defeat Malaga 3-2 at Anoeta. In a pulsating match it was the hosts who took the lead after just ten minutes through Martin Demichelis' own goal. However, the visitors appeared to be heading for a third straight victory when Salomon Rondon levelled midway through the first half and then Sebastian Fernandez pounced on an error by Mikel Gonzalez to put Malaga 2-1 in front. A Carlos Vela wonder-goal brought Sociedad back into the match in the 89th minute and the drama was not over there as two minutes later Diego Ifran slalomed through the Malaga defence to prod home the winner. Sociedad's second consecutive 3-2 win lifts them up to 12th place, while Malaga remain three points behind Levante in fifth. Sociedad's win at Betis last weekend was their first for nine games and the confidence that victory had given them was apparent in the early stages albeit their opening goal did have a touch of fortune about it. Daniel Estrada's cross picked out Imanol Agirretxe at the back post and as the striker's terrific header came back off the bar, Demichelis was slow to react and saw the ball rebound off him and into the net. Malaga were not behind for long however as Isco, who has been so vital to the Andalusians' resurgence in recent weeks, floated in a teasing cross for Rondon to power home his second goal of the season. Claudio Bravo kept the score level with a smart stop from Sergio Duda's free-kick after the break but minutes later Malaga did take the lead when Gonzalez delayed, apparently hoping Bravo would come a collect a routine through ball, and his hesitation allowed Fernandez to slip in and finish calmly below Bravo. Manuel Pellegrini's side have been very good at defending leads so far this season and seemed to be cruising towards another three points until a crazy final few minutes changed the entire complexion of the match. Firstly, Vela controlled a loose ball inside the area with his head and produced a wonderful overhead kick into the top corner to draw Sociedad level at 2-2, and then with the game becoming stretched Joseba Llorente picked out Ifran who turned Demichelis with ease and calmly slotted past Willy Caballero.