Real Sociedad down Basque rivals Athletic Club to set up Copa del Rey final with Atleti

[p]An incredible atmosphere in the Basque derby almost saw the perfect start for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ath-bilbao/IP5zl0cJ/"]Athletic Club[/a], when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/berenguer-alejandro/nuQn903r/"]Alex Berenguer[/a]’s header went narrowly wide in the first two minutes.[/p][p]Both teams were keen to attack at every opportunity, and it took an incredible one-handed save from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/padilla-alex/4d3bB6Wo/"]Alex Padilla[/a] to deny [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-sociedad/jNvak2f3/"]Sociedad[/a]’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/soler-carlos/tSYxgDUI/"]Carlos Soler[/a] after he’d whipped in a superb free-kick.[/p][p]Although real chances were at a premium, Athletic’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-inaki/W4HzaGVn/"]Inaki Williams[/a] and Sociedad’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/oyarzabal-mikel/dQ1P695O/"]Mikel Oyarzabal[/a] led their teams by example.[/p][p]And though their teammates often didn’t appear to be on the same wavelength, only Soler will know how he completely miscued with just Padilla to beat 10 minutes before half-time.[/p][p]Having allowed their hosts to record two-thirds of the possession before half-time, the visitors came out much more purposefully after the break.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="14af33d4-6a09-46b9-9432-0d144e2f6549" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="473833ac-fdb4-4616-9b2f-4365f2cba848" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]And they were almost back on terms in the tie as Williams turned [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gomez-sergio/fmGvlHVM/"]Sergio Gomez[/a] inside out before the defender got back to divert the winger’s goalbound effort.[/p][p]Gomez was again the hero shortly after, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sancet-ohian/hpZLKZVC/"]Oihan Sancet[/a] broke clear, sticking out a boot at precisely the right moment to ensure another Athletic chance came and went.[/p][p]Berenguer then flashed a shot wide as Los Leones pressed once more, and in their haste to try and grab a late goal, they were susceptible to swift counters from the hosts.[/p][embed guid="30814567-3b5a-4fcc-b076-2a475c56b75d" url="https://x.com/RealSociedadEN/status/2029315141796332027" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]As it was, an Oyarzabal penalty with four minutes to play was the killer blow, Padilla’s gamesmanship not fazing the Sociedad captain.[/b][/p][p]The result gives La Real the chance to win the trophy for a fourth time, and the first since their victory in the ‘2020’ final staged in 2021. It will also be their first final appearance in front of fans since 1988.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/guedes-goncalo/pORMn6gO/"]Goncalo Guedes[/a] (Real Sociedad)[/b][/p][image alt="Player ratings" id="1e832552-9104-4216-80fb-56e9dd4f21e4" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="09eaece7-70b1-4f36-82e7-294fffe97579" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ath-bilbao-IP5zl0cJ/real-sociedad-jNvak2f3/?mid=ARE3Q02F"]Check out the match summary here.[/a][/b][/p]