In a sober, serious, professional match, Athletic defeated Real Sociedad to put the finishing touch to matchday 14 of the League. Sunday night awaited a new edition of the most notable face-to-face in Euskal Herria in its football aspect and, although it did not disappoint in its first part, it was heading towards a slow-paced closing. The fact is that the ‘lions’ took the three points with a goal from Oihan Sancet.
The ‘8’ scored his goal shortly before the opening half hour was up. Settled in front of the far post, received a pumped delivery from Nico Williamswho had rushed the baseline in the opposite sector of Álex Remiro’s box. His partner, upon receiving the leather, moved it down forcefully, twisting his body forward to use his forehead as if it were a hammer and thus depriving his rival of stopping options, who managed to deviate the trajectory he had intended. I challenged him.
The goal rewarded one of the several contexts of the match in which Ernesto Valverde’s team appeared superior. Although there were periods of valleys and clear opportunities for Imanol Alguacil’s expedition, the weight rested more on the shoulders of the hosts. The ‘txuri-urdina’ proposal, calmly coming out from behind and causing high pressure that is Barcelona’s hallmark and that already caused problems two weeks ago, never found a way. The red and whites neutralized them all.
In this exchange of slates, several interesting tactical aspects took place. For example, Nicobefore giving the goal pass that, deservedly, puts his name on the scoreboard as an assistant, seemed quite frustrated. He challenged Barrenetxea, supportive of defensive tasks, Aguerd and Aramburu and was unable to overcome any of them. Only the passage of time and the exercise of insistence created cracks on Jon’s side.
The search for quick associations by Real Sociedad had, in one of its objectives, connect with the men aligned with the defense del Athletic so that these could play face to face and will lead to alterations in the order of Marcos-Vivian-Yeray-Yuri. All four were aware of this, especially the two center backs. Dani debated several times with the referee after committing fouls when he jumped from his spot to avoid other people’s receptions because he did not see it fair to award infractions for putting his foot in and, at the right moment, his rival stood between him and the ball.
These types of details, usually buried when the action is more deliriouscame to light in San Mamés. Even in a slow ending, with more pauses for substitutions or yellow cards than dangerous arrivals, the fans were able to see the temperament of Yuri, who confronted Aramburu and received a stomp from him later on. He also had his pluses and minuses with Mikel Oyarzabal. Even Ander Herrera, with a normally friendly expression, found himself involved in these arguments.
What must prevail about them, yes, is that Real Sociedad lost the game without an answer either from the headlines or from Imanol’s changes. Brais Méndez and Sheraldo Becker, the most ambitious alternatives or, at least, with the most potential to change the direction of the event, entered in the 60th minute, but barely made an impact. Only Oyarzabal came close to tying with a volley to finish a rehearsed corner play. He sent the ball directly into the billboards behind Agirrezabala.
For the sake of these lines, it is also necessary to mention that, shortly after starting the second half, Beñat Prados had a clear opportunity to make it 2-0, but he could not find a way to reach a low pass between the opposing legs. In this way, although the ‘txuri-urdines’ were able to equalize despite not taking the match where they wanted, the ‘lions’ were also able to increase their income. The antidote worked against the San Sebastian approach and the anesthesia did the rest.
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