Manu Garcia Sanchez struck a brilliant equaliser deep into injury time to earn Alaves a 1-1 draw in Atletico Madrid on Sunday. His strike answered Kevin Gameiro's controversial stoppage-time penalty that had given the hosts a late lead.Gameiro had struggled on his debut, as had an entire Atletico forward line desperately missing rested talisman Antoine Griezmann. However, Gameiro and his team thought they'd snatched a reprieve when substitute Fernando Torres won a contentious penalty.By contrast, Real Madrid didn't need main man Cristiano Ronaldo to get their new La Liga campaign off to a perfect start in Real Sociedad on Sunday. Gareth Bale scored twice, bookending a sweet finish from promising youngster Marco Asensio to cap a 3-0 win at Anoeta, as manager Zinedine Zidane's squad showed its credentials to challenge Barcelona for this season's title.The day's play began with Athletic Bilbao slipping to a 2-1 defeat in Sporting Gijon, courtesy of goals from Duje Cop and Victor Rodriguez.Here are the final scores from Sunday's matches:Here's what the standings look like: RecapAtletico found newly promoted Alaves difficult to break down during a first half of few chances. The absence of Griezmann proved significant, as new boys Kevin Gameiro and Nicolas Gaitan struggled to pick up the slack.It was Gameiro who dragged a shot wide, while veteran holding midfielder Tiago hit one straight at goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco from distance. Gameiro had an even better chance with 10 minutes remaining in the half, when Koke pulled a low cross across the box. However, the ex-Sevilla striker lifted his finish over the bar.Atleti were dominating the ball, but their profligacy in front of goal combined with Alaves' refusal to come out, made it a stale spectacle, as this fact from Squawka helped illustrate:With Gameiro struggling, manager Diego Simeone brought on Torres for the second half. Good work from the experienced crowd favourite teed up Diego Godin, but the centre-back toed his chance over.Torres soon weaved his way clear again, only to slam a shot off the outside of the post. He also headed wide as Atleti continued to struggle where it counted.Yet, they still might have won it after Torres appeared to be dragged down. Replays showed the striker may have handled the ball, though, while the initial contact also appeared to start outside the box.Regardless, Gameiro emphatically tucked away the penalty:The game seemed up until Garcia Sanchez rifled in Alaves' only shot on target in the 95 minutes:Considering Zidane's flair and creative temperament as a player, his team has been defined by more rugged qualities since he became manager. Real are an altogether tougher nut to crack on Zidane's watch, with physical, disciplined defending and economical and efficient use of possession the cornerstones of success.Those same qualities were on display in Sociedad from the moment Bale rounded off a typically steady move to give Los Blancos the lead inside two minutes after heading in Dani Carvajal's expert cross.Zidane's smartly constructed midfield took over after that. There was the perfect blend of steel and silk with Brazilian Casemiro offering ample amounts of the former quality, per OptaJose:With Casemiro stubbornly minding the back four, it was left to German playmaker Toni Kroos to make things happen further forward. He shrewdly picked out passes between the lines and barely wasted a ball, according to Squawka:Happy to soak up pressure before striking quickly, it was only a matter of time before Los Merengues struck again. The second goal proved worth the wait when it came in the 40th minute.Asensio made a smart run to meet a long punt forward. The 20-year-old then showed ice-cool composure to delicately and nonchalantly chip over Sociedad goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.Sky Sports Statto provided an image of the goal:Zidane's men have become pass masters at controlling a game with a two-goal lead. Although they ceded the ball, Los Blancos were content to let the hosts huff and puff without posing any real danger.There was even time for Bale to add a third deep into stoppage time, a fitting way to cap an awesome display detailed by WhoScored.com:Real haven't been their usual big-spending selves in this summer's transfer market. Yet, this is still a squad loaded with match-winners. Specifically, Bale is in the form of his life, and his partnership with Ronaldo will be the biggest threat to Barca's dominance of Spain's top flight.Earlier, Bilbao found themselves thwarted by Gijon, despite a late goal from Borja Viguera. As he usually does, winger Inaki Williams made a difference for the Basque club. But his impact came just too late in this one.Bilbao will push for Europe again, but anything higher will be beyond them. Instead, the title race will involve another tussle between the familiar foes, with Barca favourites, but one Madrid club good enough to close the gap.
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