Real Sociedad - Athletic Club

A perfect test to build momentum and confidence. Athletic Club have claimed a fourth Euskal Herria Txapela (Basque Cup) by defeating Real Sociedad 0–1 at Anoeta thanks to Maroan's diving header from a Robert Navarro free-kick.

What's more, the victory should have been even more emphatic given the dominance shown by Edin Terzic’s side.

This friendly derby, played without internationals, proved to be a very encouraging exercise with a few Athletic players making their first appearances of the season. Beñat Prados returned to put in a fine hour’s performance, Dani Vivian came on for the final 15 minutes, Alejandro Rego played the whole match, and so did Mikel Santos, who had a quiet night in goal.

The Lions' dominance was clear from the start, with Robert Navarro and Johaneko troubling La Real early on. The full-back had a goal disallowed for a handball and Maroan hit the crossbar.

In the second half Athletic converted that dominance into a greater number of chances. Only Unai Marrero's saves stopped the Zurigorri's from running away with it. He made a double save to deny Nico Serrano and Mikel Jauregizar before producing a spectacular stop to thwart Navarro.

La Real barely threatened. Gonçalo Guedes had an effort ruled out for offside, but Athletic responded to make it 0–1 from a set-piece.

Iñaki Williams also forced the home goalkeeper into action. And in the 84th minute, Serrano had a clear chance following a sensational team move.

9,000 spectators attended a match in which a well-deserved tribute was paid to Mikel Etxarri, a charismatic coach who was José Ángel Iribar’s right-hand man at the Basque national team.