Iñaki Williams and Berenguer Settle a Fiery Basque Derby as Athletic Beat Real Sociedad 2-1

Álex Berenguer's penalty settled a fiery Basque derby at San Mamés on Sunday, as Athletic Club beat Real Sociedad 2-1 in a match whose entire story was written before half-time. Iñaki Williams opened the scoring from his brother Nico's pass, Luka Sučić levelled with a strike worthy of winning any game, and then Berenguer converted the spot-kick the visitors are still arguing about in writing. After the break, Unai Simón slammed the door on everything Sociedad threw at him, and the derby belonged to Bilbao.

The evening began with ceremony. Simón presented the Yashin Trophy, the award recognising him as the world's best goalkeeper, to the home crowd before kick-off, and a minute's silence was held for the victims of the Urda rail accident. Then the football started, and it did not slow down for anyone.

The brothers strike first

Athletic set the tempo from the opening minutes and should have led almost immediately, Álex Berenguer squirming a golden chance wide from Hugo Rincón's delivery inside the area. The pressure told on 14 minutes, and it came from the family's private supply line: Nico Williams lifted a defence-splitting pass over the top, and his brother Iñaki ran onto it and calmly lifted the ball over the onrushing Álex Remiro to make it 1-0. Moments later Iñaki turned provider with an inviting ball across the box, but Berenguer could not connect, and Athletic's failure to land a second while they were on top nearly cost them.

On the half-hour, Sociedad struck back out of very little. Luka Sučić collected the ball and drove a powerful low finish beyond the outstretched Simón to level the derby at 1-1 — a bolt from the blue that briefly flipped the mood inside San Mamés. Simón then had to be sharp to keep the scores level, denying Ander Barrenetxea and Mikel Oyarzabal as the visitors sensed the game turning their way.

The penalty that settled it — and started the argument

The decisive moment arrived in first-half stoppage time. Nico Williams was brought down by Jon Aramburu inside the box, the referee pointed to the spot, and Berenguer — who had missed chances to score twice earlier — squeezed his penalty underneath Remiro's body to restore Athletic's lead at 2-1. It was Berenguer's fourth league goal of the season, and it stood as the winner.

Real Sociedad's anger about the award has outlasted the match. In its official match report, the club called it a penalty that never was and criticised VAR for not intervening, saying the chip inside the match ball shows Aramburu made contact with the ball in his challenge on Nico Williams. Head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo said afterwards that, for him, it was clearly not a penalty. Athletic, who also collected two yellow cards to Sociedad's four in a derby that never lacked edge, will not spend long worrying about the footnote: the points are theirs.

Answered from the bench

Athletic had to solve a problem almost before the derby had settled. Maroan Sannadi, starting up front, felt his hamstring in the opening minutes and could not continue, and Robert Navarro was thrown into the game with barely five minutes played. It is the kind of early disruption that scrambles a game plan, but Navarro played 83 minutes as if he had started, creating four key passes and giving Athletic a second creative outlet alongside the Williams brothers whenever Sociedad's press forced the play inside. On a night when depth might have been Athletic's weakness, it turned out to be part of the story of the win.

Simón's second half

If the first half belonged to the Williams brothers, the second belonged to the man who had shown off his trophy before kick-off. Athletic came out still hunting — Iñaki Williams sent an acrobatic effort drifting wide and later saw a clever chip thwarted by Remiro — but as the half wore on it was Simón being worked. He pushed away a Carlos Soler attempt with around twenty minutes remaining, then watched Soler blaze another chance over after being picked out by Óskar Óskarsson, and finished the night with four saves to Remiro's one.

The numbers underlined the strange shape of the game. Sociedad dominated the ball, completing 514 accurate passes to Athletic's 307, and Sučić was arguably the best player on the pitch. But Athletic created the clearer chances, and in a derby, clear chances and a goalkeeper in this form are usually enough.

Previously Staff’s read: The win is Athletic's third in a row in all competitions and extends their unbeaten run at San Mamés to five matches — three wins and two draws. It also ends Sociedad's four-game La Liga winning streak and pulls Athletic to within four points of their rivals, who sit fifth, with a game in hand. There was a cost: striker Maroan Sannadi was forced off early with a hamstring problem, another blow to Athletic's attacking depth. But on a night that began with their goalkeeper being honoured as the best in the world at his job, Athletic's derby win was built exactly where their supporters would have wanted it — the Williams brothers in front of goal, and Simón reminding everyone why the trophy was his.

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By the numbers

Read the stat line and you would swear Sociedad won. They held 62 percent of possession to Athletic's 38, edged the shots 14 to 13, put five efforts on target to Athletic's three, and won the corner count eight to five. The columns that decided the night sat elsewhere: Simón's four saves against a single save for Remiro, because Athletic's three shots on target produced two goals and Sociedad's five produced one. Berenguer's penalty was his fourth league goal of the season; Sučić's equaliser was also his fourth. And from the bench, Navarro's four key passes were the most creative output by any Athletic player on the night - from a substitute who was not supposed to play more than a cameo.

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• Earlier this season: Athletic held at Valencia
• Earlier this season: Sociedad put five past Málaga