Real Sociedad on Thursday won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao in a Basque Country derby to end their winless run and strengthen their hold on third place in La Liga.
Cristian Portugues scored the game’s only goal in the fifth minute after Mikel Merino played Mikel Oyarzabal clear on the flank, from where he squared the ball for Portugues to finish.
The victory came after a difficult past month in which Sociedad had drawn three games, before losing three in a row prior to their visit to Bilbao.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The three points moved them to within four points of second-placed Real Madrid and six of leaders Atletico Madrid.
Sociedad have played three more matches than Atletico and one more than Real Madrid.
“After those defeats, we wanted to turn this around and win the derby for our fans, so they could celebrate New Year’s Eve in style,” Portugues said.
The forward also took a moment to remember the supporters who had suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It has been a good year as far as results for the team, but we want to think about our fans who could not be here to share it with us, and those fans or their loved ones who are no longer with us,” he said.
Athletic Bilbao’s erratic season continued after a poor attacking performance that never seriously threatened Sociedad’s goal.
The hosts remained in 12th place.
In the late game, CA Osasuna earned a 1-1 draw with Deportivo Alaves, despite playing with 10 men from the eighth minute.
Osasuna lost goalkeeper Ruben Martinez to a straight red card when he fouled Deyverson, who had only the goalkeeper to beat.
Roberto Torres put Osasuna ahead in the 67th minute, before Alaves striker Lucas Perez converted a penalty in the 75th to split the points.
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