Athletic Club - Real Sociedad

Athletic Club beat Real Sociedad 2–1 in a thrilling Basque Derby at San Mames which featured plenty of back-and-forth, attacking football.

A derby to be proud of, just like the Ikurriña flag that Jose Angel Iribar and Inaxio Kortabarria unfurled once again 50 years after that iconic moment in 1976. 

The world’s best goalkeeper is a Lion and he proved it on the pitch with three tremendous saves to secure a victory that was fully deserved.

It seemed as though the applause from Unai Simón's tribute couldn’t be topped. But it grew even louder following his superb save to prevent Carlos Soler making the score 2–2. A moment that brought the crowd to its feet.

The Lions came out hungry. Within the first minute, Alex Berenguer had a clear chance to score. It was almost easier to score from Hugo Rincón’s pass than to miss it.

Maroan Sannadi went off injured with a hamstring strain and left the pitch in tears. But the Lions’ first half-hour was outstanding. 

The Williams brothers combined to create a superb goal in the 13th minute. A brilliant pass from Nico into space was met by Iñaki’s lob over Alex Remiro.

The elder brother’s performance was in a league of its own. He did everything with movement and purpose, like when Peio Canales drove from deep with ball and linked up with the captain before Berenguer fired a left-footed shot wide. 

Luka Sucic’s left-footed strike in the 30th minute was the only shot Simón couldn’t save.
Real Sociedad started to grow into the match, but Simón was there to make two incredible saves to deny Ander Barrenetxea and Mikel Oyarzabal – the latter an almost carbon copy of Iribar's famous stops.

And just before half-time, the referee, following the moment very closely, awarded Athletic a penalty after Jon Aramburu fouled Nico Williams in the box. Berenguer made no mistake from the spot.

Early in the second half, Robert Navarro produced a fabulous run and set up Iñaki to fire at Remiro, who made a fine save as he rushed off his line.

Real Sociedad, coming into the match on the back of four consecutive wins, pushed hard, prompting the Yashin Trophy winner to produce a third superb save.

Three precious points stay at San Mames and the Athleticzales will go to work in a great mood on Monday morning.