Real Sociedad has turned the set piece into its main offensive weapon, going from being one of the teams with the worst performance in these plays to leading the table with a scoring balance of +3. The change was evident last Sunday when JonMartín scored his first goal of the season with his head after a short corner that was thrown between Soler and Guedes, leaving Deportivo's defense disorganized and allowing the realistic striker to enter from behind to head in.
During the season Real have scored three goals in the League coming exclusively from corners and have not conceded any in these situations. The first goal was the spectacular one from Barrenetxea in Valencia, also from short range, and the second, from Ochieng in Elche, which came after a rejection and a pass from Soler. With these three goals the team is at the top of the ranking of set pieces, surpassing Real Madrid, Betis, Athletic, Rayo and Málaga, which have a balance of +1.
The success is attributed to summer changes in Zubieta's coaching. The set piece specialist, José Rodríguez, was replaced by John Maisano, who is in charge of the offensive part, and by Omer Toprak, responsible for the defense. Both have worked on improving the quality of the crosses and the organization of the plays, although there are still opportunities for improvement, such as easy shots that did not become a goal or inaccurate crosses.
Despite the areas of improvement, Real Sociedad remains one of the teams that has not conceded goals from set pieces, along with Athletic, Rayo, Málaga, Racing and Alavés. In addition, it is the club that has scored the most goals from corners, along with Betis, which in total has scored one more goal from set pieces thanks to a foul. With this evolution, Real Sociedad consolidates its position as one of the most efficient teams in managing set-piece moments in the League.