Sociedad, who sacked Sergio Francisco shortly before the winter break, competed well from kick-off here, with Mikel Oyarzabal firing wide for the hosts before Julian Alvarez miscued an inviting volley for the visitors.
Alvarez - last a scorer in the Spanish top flight on November 1st - was then left frustrated again after wastefully missing the target from close range, while at the other end, Jan Oblak was forced to parry Brais Mendez’s effort from just outside the box.
La Real were left disgruntled on 17 minutes by Marc Pubill’s shirt-pull on Duje Caleta-Car that could have led to a penalty but went unpunished, but on the stroke of half-time, Matarazzo’s men thought they had taken the lead when Carlos Soler’s free-kick was accidentally turned into his own net by former Sociedad man Alexander Sorloth.
Fortunately for the Norwegian, though, Mendez was rightly adjudged to have been interfering with play while in an offside position, giving Atletico a huge reprieve.
Diego Simeone will have been deeply frustrated by his side’s showing before half-time, and so made a double change at the break, bringing on Robin Le Normand and Conor Gallagher for Pablo Barrios and Matteo Ruggeri.
Then, a sweeping attacking move soon saw Atleti go in front as Giuliano Simeone’s exquisite cross was nodded in by Sorloth, who had up until that point been feeding off scraps while working hard defensively.
Gallagher then missed a golden opportunity to double the capital club’s advantage after being found superbly by Alex Baena.
It was a miss the Englishman would rue, as Sociedad levelled on 55 when the untracked Goncalo Guedes converted from Take Kubo’s outside-of-the-foot cross after a quick counter-attack.
Another ex-Sociedad player, Antoine Griezmann, was the next to enter a white-hot atmosphere, but the home team looked more likely to win it despite their opponents’ superiority on paper, with the composed and tenacious Benat Turrientes and Kubo next to try their luck.
In the closing stages, Oyarzabal was unsuccessful in winning a penalty after going over easily following minimal contact by Oblak, before Griezmann’s ill-advised dink was snaffled up by Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro.
Ultimately, though, despite an end-to-end finish which included Soler missing a glorious chance, neither team was able to find the winner, although Sociedad rise two places to 15th with the point on an encouraging first outing for their American head coach.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Benat Turrientes (Real Sociedad)