Osasuna double up in derby to defeat Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao

A combative opening quarter-hour saw Athletic’s Nico Williams come closest to an opener. Showing neat footwork, he weaved beyond Osasuna’s backline but could only fire into the side-netting from a narrow angle, keeping him waiting for a first goal since late April.

Athletic were then aggrieved not to have won a penalty later on in the first period, and this time it was Nico’s brother Inaki Williams in the spotlight, as he raced through after beating the offside trap, only to see his attempt apparently hit Ruben Pena’s hand mere yards from goal.

Referee Alejandro Ruiz was unmoved, but the elder Williams remained Athletic’s chief danger man right up to half time, and produced a surging run and shot that Aitor Fernandez did well to save at his near post.

With no further action before the break, the sides marched off to the A-Team theme after a goalless first 45’ that demanded more from the hosts.

And it took just four second-half minutes for the Rojillos’ great plan to finally come together, as Jon Moncayola received a throw-in from the right, and he crossed into the box where a roaming Ante Budimir glanced home into the far corner via his head, for his sixth LaLiga goal of 2022/23.

Inevitably, Athletic became increasingly desperate in their attempts to wrest back the superiority they had enjoyed before the break.

But it was from this pragmatic approach that Osasuna finally killed the game with 15 minutes to play.

Daniel Vivian committed a foul on the edge of the box, and the resulting free kick was saved but only met by Aimar Oroz, who played the ball back across goal for an unmarked Lucas Torro to side-foot in his first El Sadar goal since October 2017.

Visibly out of ideas from that moment on, Athletic must now hope that Osasuna will slip up in their closing brace of LaLiga games, especially with more of an obligation than ever to beat doomed basement boys Elche in the penultimate round.

Meanwhile, the Rojillos themselves will be more confident than ever of ending a 17-year wait to grace any UEFA competition, having won – and avoided defeat – for just the second time in seven home league matches faced as pre-match outsiders.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Lucas Torro (Osasuna)

Check out all the stats from the Basque Derby with Flashscore.