It wasn't pretty or convincing, but Real Madrid moved to the top of the La Liga table, at least for a couple of hours, with a 3-1 win over Real Sociedad.
The Santiago Bernabeu was hostile, and then some, but not for the away team, with most of the Real Madrid players booed constantly by the frustrated, impatient and clearly-not-happy-enough crowd.
That seemed to affect the Real Madrid players too and it took them a while to find their groove, with Cristiano Ronaldo missing a penalty early in the game. The opening goal, though, was fortuitous, with Real Madrid winning a second penalty in pretty lucky circumstances. Gareth Bale surged down the right and put a cross in, which struck Yuri Bercheche on the leg before jumping up and hitting his arm.
The referee, inexplicably, pointed to the spot and Ronaldo stepped up to slot the ball into the bottom corner, minutes after he had skied his first spotkick.
Real Sociedad got back into the match four minutes into the second half with Bruma scoring a goal to remember, curling one into the top corner to give Keylor Navas absolutely no chance. Sociedad, with the crowd continuing to show their displeasure, could have easily gone into the lead as well, but Bruma's poor touch allowed Navas to swat the ball away from the Sociedad man's feet.
Madrid needed a spark from somewhere to keep the crowd off their back and pick up the much-needed three points, and it was their talisman again who stepped up. Marcelo floated a corner in from the left, and Ronaldo volleyed a brilliant strike with his left foot into the bottom corner.
With Sociedad looking for the equaliser, Real Madrid found the insurance goal four minutes from time as substitute Lucas Vazquez finishing a good counter-attack, off a setup from Bale.
