He started the derby in a way a little contrary to how the matches start in San Mamés. Accustomed to seeing Athletic sending, pressing, overwhelming the rival and generating chances thanks to that high pressure, on Thursday the roles were changed and the first ten minutes were enough for Real to get ahead on the scoreboard and then remain serious to see how the minutes without suffering.
The truth is that removing that beginning, the first half immediately deflated. La Real, having in their ranks much more than they showed, did not do much and Athletic, starting a bit misplaced with some dangerous loss, went from less to more but also without creating clear situations. Some play of
Berenguer
on the left wing deepening to the bottom line, but without consequences.
Muniain
He was dedicated to the work of looking for the ball on both sides, but without finding that last pass or that unbalanced play. Locals had a hard time finding
Willi
and the little that he did did not make a profit.
First part without pain or glory and without reason to think that we were watching a derby. Lack of intensity in the actions and divided balls, those traditional piques, all very blurred. We miss a bit of the derby seasoning that didn't show up on the green. The trident in the core of the txuriurdines,
Guridi
,
Merino
,
Guevara
, held well the little that Athletic tried in the first half.
The second part did not give us the option to enjoy the meeting either. Triple local change that was practically not noticed and the appearance of
Raul
Garcia
on stage somewhat wasted due to lack of aerial balls so common in San Mamés with those centers on the wing.
The truth is that on Thursday the bands were not deep, there was no showy game and almost no occasions. The second half left us with a couple of frontal fouls for each team, the visitors hitting the crossbar. A timid arreón in minute 92 with two consecutive centers where the Real was somewhat enclosed, but it was almost a mirage.
Relatively quiet match for
Alex
Remiro
with Athletic quite weak in attack. Real Sociedad broke their 9-game winless streak and did it in the best scenario for them. With 29 points in the locker, he remains third and the lions, with 18, are in search of those two consecutive victories that will give them a little boost in the standings and in morale.