Bale awesome at Anoeta
"We want more from him on the pitch, he does too," warned Zidane on the eve of the game in his most outspoken evaluation of his struggles so far this season. However, Bale has always made his mark in a Real shirt on their tricky trips to Sociedad. The Welshman has now scored in all five of his appearances at Anoeta and his delightful finish was not one of a player lacking in confidence.
Mayoral rewards Zidane's faith
Mayoral wasn't even on the bench for last weekend's 1-1 draw with Levante. However, without Ronaldo, the injured Karim Benzema and having not signed a replacement for Alvaro Morata, Zidane handed the 20-year-old Mayoral his chance and was rewarded with a smart finish to open the scoring. And he also led the counter-attack for Real's second as his cross was put into his own net by Rodrigues.
Real react to Barca pressure
The Spanish and European champions travelled north with circumstances conspiring to make this clash a crucial one in their defence of the title just four games in. Barca moved seven points clear of their eternal rivals with a hard-fought victory at Getafe, whilst Sociedad's early season form and a series of important absentees put Madrid under serious pressure. However, they reacted as champions do with a performance and result that sent out a message to their title rivals.
73 not out
Real really can't stop scoring. Zidane's men haven't fired a blank since facing Manchester City in the Champions League semi-finals 17 months ago. That run stretched to 73 games in San Sebastian, matching the all-time record set by Pele's Santos between 1961 and 1963. And with an inviting fixture list of Real Betis, Alaves, Espanyol, Getafe, Eibar, Girona and Las Palmas to come, there seems little to stop Zidane's men writing themselves into the history books once more.
Nightmare for Navas
Whilst David de Gea underlined his status as one of the world's best 'keepers with another clean sheet at Old Trafford on Sunday, Navas endured another night to forget. How Madrid must rue the millions that malfunctioning fax machine has cost them in missing out on the Spanish number one back in 2015. Faced with paying an inflated price for De Gea this summer, Real decided to stick with Navas. But that decision could come back to haunt the Real hierarchy later in the season.
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