CA Osasuna - Athletic Club

It was a historic night, Athletic Club’s 4,000th match and Oihan Sancet wanted to stamp his name on the occasion. He did so in stunning fashion, scoring his first hat-trick for the Lions in an unforgettable match. He netted all three goals as Athletic came back from a goal behind to win 1-3 against CA Osasuna.

It was not an easy task. In Marcelino’s absence, assistant manager Rubén Uria took the reins against a home side whose manager, Jagoba Arrasate, had also been sidelined by COVID-19. This left former Lion Bittor Alkiza in charge of Osasuna for the night. Sancet threatened from the start, going one-on-one with Segio Herrera, it was one of the few times the goalkeeper would deny the young striker.

In the 10th minute, Osasuna got their noses in front, Kike García heading in from a Jon Moncayola cross. The match had turned into an uphill battle for Los Leones, but Athletic kept their chins up and equalised in the 15th minute.

It was a great counter-attack which saw Iñaki Williams wing in a cross for Sancet to head home at the back post. It was easy to imagine Marcelino, who celebrates his first-year anniversary at Athletic on Tuesday, jumping for joy on the couch. After all, it was the boss who convinced Oihan to play as a striker, even though Oihan always saw himself as an attacking midfielder.

In the 25th minute, Sancet found the back of the net once more. Athletic were patient as they moved the ball around on the edge of the box looking for an opening. It came from the right via Oscar de Marcos‘ measured cross, Oihan caught it with a low volley to put Athletic ahead.

Glory also goes to Óscar as his appearance saw him move into the Club’s top-10 all-time appearance makers. The right-back almost set up Iñaki Williams for another, but the latter’s shot went over. Mikel Balenziaga‘s blocked Nacho Vidal’s shot at the end of the first half to make sure the Lions went into the interval with the lead.

Athletic took control after the break. In the 58th minute, Alex Berenguer nutmegged his marker before driving into the box, the ball landed at Iker Muniain‘s feet but the captain’s shot was kept out by Herrera.

Shortly after, in 67th minute, Sancet completed his hat-trick. It came off the back of some great interplay between Muniain and Berenguer, with the latter delivering a low cross for Sancet to poke home.

Iñaki thought he had made it four after being played through by Nico Williams, but the strike was ruled out for offside. Unai Simón got a fingertip to stop Chimy Ávila from scoring, the Argentinian striker also received a red after squaring up to Iñigo Martínez.

One of the best sights of the night was Peru Nolaskoain coming on as a substitute, the defender making a first appearance in the longest time after his injury ordeal. All in all, a great win to kick off the year. Now the Lions look ahead to Thursday’s Copa opener.