MADRID: Real Sociedad missed the chance to lead La Liga again when tied without a goal by Alaves in the Basque.

Without his captain Mikel Oyarzabal, La Liga’s top scorer with seven injured goals, Sociedad was deadlocked to break through the home side.

The draw put them one point behind Atletico, who beat Valladolid 2-0 yesterday for their seventh consecutive league victory.

Earlier, Villareal also dropped points with a 0-0 result against Elche at home.

Villareal are back in third place but five points behind Diego Simeone’s Atletico.

Sociedad and Villarreal played two games ahead of Atletico and one over Real Madrid in fourth place.