Real Sociedad are slowly, but surely ensuring their La Liga status. The Basque outfit are now six points a drift of the bottom three thanks to a 5-0 thrashing of relegation rivals Espanyol on Monday to confirm back-to-back wins for Eusebio Sacristan’s side.
Unsurprisingly, their biggest La Liga win since November 2013 (vs Osasuna) was enough to have four players feature in the La Liga Team of the Week for gameweek 23.
Jonathas was the pick of the bunch, with his WhoScored.com rating (9.38) also the highest of any player in Spain’s top-flight over the weekend. The 26-year-old has taken his time to settle at Sociedad since making the switch from Elche at the start of the season but the striker now has scored four goals in his last five matches thanks to a brace in Monday’s rout.
Not only that, but Jonathas also completed as many dribbles as those to start for Sociedad combined (3) and only full-back Hector (4) won more aerial duels the visiting side than their frontman (3) on Monday evening.
He was joined in the Team of the Week by midfield trio Carlos Vela, Ruben Pardo and Diego Reyes. Pardo, in particular, was instrumental in the victory, providing a hat-trick of assists.
In defence, Reyes was also vital to destabilising any Espanyol attacks, completing a staggering 10 interceptions and three tackles during his 72-minute performance. In fact, only on four other occasions has someone completed more interceptions in a league game in Spain’s top-flight this season.
