Matarazzo celebrates Real Sociedad win but rues missed chances

“We won, played well and could have scored more,” Pellegrino Matarazzo said after Real Sociedad’s LaLiga victory over Levante. The coach was very pleased with his side’s performance, although he felt its finishing was less sharp than in previous matches. Levante offered little threat to Real Sociedad’s lead after the break. The win was the club’s fourth in a row in LaLiga.

Matarazzo believed his team could even have won by a wider margin. He also described how the match unfolded: after taking the lead, Real Sociedad eased off and conceded an equaliser, before responding well. “I’m happy with the victory. I think we played very good football and had chances to score more goals,” he said, adding that his team later chose to manage the game more carefully. He also praised its solidity and the intensity it maintained after half-time.

The decision to manage the second half more closely was also linked, Matarazzo said, to defensive concerns. “We focused on defending and not conceding when we’re ahead, while continuing to push forward,” he said. He thought his side could still have scored a third goal, but explained that it controlled the match differently because Levante had scored many goals in the final 15 minutes of its matches.

Levante sit 14th with 10 points after 10 league matches. Their record stands at 2 wins, 4 draws and 4 defeats, with 16 goals scored and 19 conceded. In their last 5 league games, they have won once, drawn twice and lost twice. For Matarazzo, Real Sociedad’s victory therefore extends the team’s winning run in the league to four, even as he sees room for improvement in front of goal.