Gareth Bale, Borja Mayoral Score as Real Madrid Top Real Sociedad

Real Madrid climbed within four points of La Liga leaders Barcelona on Sunday when they defeated Real Sociedad 3-1 at Anoeta Stadium, where Borja Mayoral scored his first goal for the club in an impressive display. 

Mayoral broke the deadlock to put Los Merengues ahead before Kevin Rodrigues pulled Sociedad level and then scored an own goal, with Gareth Bale adding a third just past the hour mark.   

Despite the win and encouraging play from the youngsters, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane still has his work cut out as his side recover from recent home draws against Valencia and Levante.

After recent results, Real were fully aware they might need to bide their time before they could expect the desired outcome at the Anoeta, although 19 minutes was all it took to get their breakthrough.

Captain Sergio Ramos found himself in the Sociedad box with his back to goal, and he steadied the ball to tee up an onrushing Mayoral, who poked home from close range to score his first La Liga goal at a time when it was greatly needed.

Having scored just twice during his season-long loan at Wolfsburg last term, Mayoral was given a vote of confidence by Zidane in starting on Sunday, and ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan hinted the act was almost instantly repaid:

But their lead stood for only nine minutes, and Sociedad defender Rodrigues appeared to catch Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas unaware with his volleyed equaliser.

Alvaro Odriozola crossed from the right, and Navas couldn't keep out a skidding Rodrigues bullet across goal. FourFourTwo's Michael Yokhin noted his maiden strike for the side after a period of career obscurity:

There was a stoppage in play after La Real leveled the scoring, and football writer Alexandra Jonson illustrated the bizarre reason behind the pause:

Mayoral required a bit of luck to force Real's second, but if Rodrigues' own goal was reward for the Madrid striker's graft in its buildup, then it was deserved.

The 20-year-old ruffled the feathers of the Sociedad defence and bore down on goal from the centre circle, clipping a ball across goal after a dip of the shoulder, only for Rodrigues to slide it goalwards on his behalf. 

Despite the clunkiness of the end finish, Mayoral was worth a second goal for Real if only for his surging dribble and skill inside the opposition area, per Squawka:

La Real had a penalty shout early in the second period when Xabi Prieto went down under the pressure of Theo Hernandez attempting to meet a cross, only for the referee to wave away his appeals.

Prieto was caught in a melee inside the Real box around the hour mark, after which the visitors embarked on a quick break that found its way up top to Bale following Isco's hopeful ball.

Left-back Rodrigues looked to have his lines covered before the Wales international got a head of steam and seared goalside, dinking the ball over Sociedad stopper Geronimo Rulli close to the goal thanks to a ridiculous demonstration of speed.

Goal's Ben Hayward noted the timely nature of his response to recent critics, as well as his apparent favour towards playing at this particular venue:

Mayoral went off to applause from the away supporters with 15 minutes remaining, and replacement Lucas Vazquez came on to cause more trouble for the home side, who looked liable to concede a fourth goal.

But a fourth never came for Real, who outshot their hosts 17 to 10, per WhoScored.com, and repelled the few late chances Sociedad managed to engineer between the likes of Willian Jose and Carlos Vela.

Marcos Asensio was denied a late goal after being called offside, a decision that replays indicated was the wrong call.

Hernandez appeared to jar his shoulder hitting the turf in the final exchanges and came off for Nacho Fernandez in injury time, which was a solemn ending to an otherwise promising performance.  

Sunday's fixture was also the last match on Cristiano Ronaldo's five-match suspension, meaning Zidane can look forward to welcoming his star pupil back for Wednesday's home clash against Real Betis.