Oyarzabal Calls Out Set-Piece Woes After Real Sociedad Blow Two-Goal Lead Against Oviedo

Real Sociedad’s recent wobble continued in the most painful fashion — two goals up, somehow finishing level at 3-3, with all three Oviedo goals coming from set pieces. Captain Mikel Oyarzabal wasn’t shy about where the blame lies.

A First Half to Forget

Let’s be honest, La Real were rotten in the opening 45 minutes. Oyarzabal himself admitted the first half was poor from everyone, and that kind of start makes it near-impossible to control a game or create anything meaningful going forward. You can’t keep digging yourself into holes and expecting to climb out every week — eventually it catches up with you, and against Oviedo, it did exactly that.

The Set-Piece Problem Is Real

This is the bit that should have Imanol Alguacil — or rather, current boss Matarazzo — up all night with the coaching staff. Three goals conceded, all from dead-ball situations. That’s not bad luck, that’s a pattern. Oyarzabal was pointed in his assessment:

• Real Sociedad had fought back from 0-2 down to lead
• Oviedo then scored three, every single one from a set piece
• “We have to improve there” was Oyarzabal’s clear-eyed verdict

When your captain — a bloke who’s seen everything at this club — is flagging it publicly, you know it’s a genuine issue and not just a one-off.

The Red Card Controversy

There was also a sending-off to deal with, which added a bit of needle to proceedings. Oyarzabal reckoned he had won the position on his opponent and that contact caused him to go down, suggesting it should’ve been given in his favour. He hadn’t seen it back at the time of speaking, but his gut feeling was that it was a clear foul on him. Whether the officials saw it the same way is another matter entirely.

Where Does This Leave Matarazzo’s Side?

This is now back-to-back disappointing results for Real Sociedad, and the momentum they’d been building has taken a proper knock. Dropping points from a winning position is the sort of thing that haunts a squad — especially when the goals against are coming from such a fixable source as set pieces.

• Two successive stumbles has stalled their rhythm
• Defensive organisation at corners and free kicks needs urgent attention
• The attacking quality is clearly there — the problem is at the other end

There’s enough quality in this squad to put things right, but they’ll need to sort out their defensive shape sharpish if they want to stay in the conversation for European spots. Right now, they’re giving away points they really can’t afford to lose.