Diego Lopez should have opened the scoring for the hosts within the first five minutes, but flashed a sitter of a header wide when left unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box.
Iceland international Orri Oskarsson then missed a similarly glorious opening at the other end. Picked out in acres of space by Sheraldo Becker’s cross from the right, he scuffed off target.
That was a huge let off for Los Che, who had won just one of the previous eight head-to-heads. They made their visitors pay by taking the lead through Hugo Duro, who slotted into an empty net from close range after Dimitri Foulquier’s deflected shot bobbled his way.
The visitors’ subsequent response was a tame one as, despite Javi Lopez and Becker having efforts saved before the break, they struggled to put their opponents under any sustained pressure.
Imanol Alguacil clearly told his players some home truths at the interval, with Bruno Mendez going close to an equaliser straight after the restart before floating a curled effort over the bar.
However, that impetus soon fizzled out and Valencia, despite not having kept a league clean sheet in 15 attempts, defended reasonably comfortably.
In fact, Duro should have even put the game to bed, shooting straight at Alex Remiro when one-on-one after being released by Jose Gaya.
Naturally, there were some nervy moments for Corberan’s side as the game wore on. Yet for all the attacking players Real Sociedad brought on from the bench, they failed to test Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Valencia are now unbeaten across four games for the first time since January last year, whereas Real Sociedad, who missed out on the chance to move into fifth place in the table, have now lost three of their last four LaLiga outings without scoring.