Unbeaten in their previous three away meetings with La Real, Atletico needed only nine minutes to open the scoring on a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon at the Reale Arena as Marcos Llorente’s delicious delivery across the danger zone put the ball on a plate for Samuel Lino to fire past Alex Remiro.
Lino should have doubled the away side’s lead not long after, but the unmarked Brazilian baller disappointingly directed his effort from deep inside the area, the wrong side of the post.
In terms of Sociedad’s best chance of the opening half hour, that fell to Sheraldo Becker, but the striker could only plant his header wide of the mark, with Antoine Griezmann potentially putting off the Dutchman by expertly guarding the back post.
Despite an increased presence in and around Atletico’s box, La Real forcibly returned to the dressing room empty-handed, as Lino’s goal remained the difference maker at half-time.
Beaten only once across their previous five home matches, a determined Sociedad side saw the first sight of goal shortly after the hour-mark - after a period of inactivity following the restart - as Takefusa Kubo forced a smart stop from Jan Oblak.
The Japanese superstar’s effort seemed to reignite the game back into action, as less than 60 seconds later, Atletico wing-back Llorente saw his strike sensationally saved by Remiro.
Angel Correa then had the ball in the back of the net shortly before being substituted. However, the Argentine took his place on the bench with a look of disappointment on his face after being adjudged to have strayed a matter of millimetres beyond the shoulder of the last defender.
Nonetheless, the offside flag had no bearing on the final score as two minutes after substitute Saul Niguez was shown a second yellow card Reinildo Mandava converted Alvaro Morata’s cross from close range to make it 2-0 and seal the victory.
Nevertheless, the 2023/24 campaign could still be considered an underwhelming one, or even a failure, by Atletico manager Diego Simeone - in terms of his impeccable standards - after finishing potentially up to 21 points behind champions and arch-city-rivals Real Madrid, as well as concluding things in their lowest league position since 2019/20.
Meanwhile, UEFA Europa League qualifiers Sociedad still remain without a victory over Los Colchoneros in La Liga since September 2019.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Samuel Lino (Atletico Madrid)