Alavés 2 - Athletico Bilbao 1

Alavés: Herrera; Contra, Karmona, Eggen, Geli; Tomic, Desio; Astudillo, Jordi Cruyff (Vucko 88'), Ibon Begoña (Iván Alonso 46'); Javi Moreno (Pablo 80'). 4-2-3-1.
Bilbao: Lafuente; Lacruz, Roberto Rios, Alkorta, Larrazábal (Asensio 88'); Urrutia, Felipe; Larrainzar (Tiko 63'), Julen Guerrero, Javi González (Yeste 75'); Joseba Etxeberria. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Alavés: Ibon Begoña for Magno / Bilbao: Roberto Rios for Urzaiz.

Goals:
0-1. 27. Roberto Rios. From close up after Javi González free kick.
1-1. 48. Contra. Bent free kick around wall from edge of area.
2-1. 52. Javi Moreno (penalty). After Urrutia ruled to have fouled Tomic .

The grandmother of Alavés got it right. The teams oldest supporter, a lady who goes by the name of 'la Paca' was celebrating her 91st birthday on the night, and she told expectant press "yes, I think we'll get a couple of goals, and Bilbao, well, we'll let them have one". And so it was to be. Paca had been waiting almost a century to see her team crowned undisputed kings of the Basque country. They had only played Bilbao 14 times in all their history, having spent most of their footballing life in lower divisions, and had only achieved one draw in all that time, losing the other 13 matches. What stuck in the craw of local supporters in particular though was the last match of last season in the San Mames stadium, when a victory for the Vitoria team would have given them second place in the Spanish league and a spot in the European Champions League for this season. They lost, ended up sixth and had to make do with the UEFA cup.

Bilbao had a couple of 'abuelos' (grandfathers) themselves in their line up, Urrutia and Alkorta, and both had renewed for another season (with an option for a second if they play 15 games) shortly before the game. It was to be a bitter-sweet week for Urrutia though, for as well as giving away a penalty, he was sent off in the second half by theatrical referee Prados García. Before that though Bilbao got their goal, Roberto Rios, returning to the side after injury, getting on the end of a Javi González free kick from the left to slide the ball home in the first half ended. It was a typical Basque derby, with tight marking allowing little room for creative football, and neither side created many chances in a hard fought first half.

At half time Mané brought on an extra forward Iván Alonso, and within seven minutes of the restart they were in front. Contra hit a free kick over and round Lafuente's defensive wall only three minutes into the half, then Prados García awarded a controversial penalty for a tackle by Urrutia on Tomic which Javi Moreno converted for his eleventh goal of the season. From the television images it appeared a fair challenge, the midfielder winning the ball cleanly, but the referee had no doubts and pointed to the spot. A few minutes later Alavés should have had another, Roberto Rios bringing down Moreno, but this time Prados ignored their appeals, probably deciding that it was quits. The crowd were incensed, and when the referee also disallowed a perfectly good (in fact spectacular) goal from Iván Alonso for a non-existent offside, objects rained down from the stands, hitting the linesman in the eye. Although the official carried on after treatment, the incident cost the club warning and a fine of 100,000 Pesetas.

Then it was Bilbao's turn to complain, as Urrutia got his marching orders rather unfairly for supposedly kicking Iván Alonso in the face whilst lying on the ground. The Alavés forward did put it on though, rolling around as if in agony, and it looked as if he had head-butted Urrutia's upraised foot rather than the other way round. The disciplinary committee did however agree with the referee, suspending him for two matches, later reduced to one on appeal. In the dying minutes Prados left Bilbao without an anchor man after sending off Urrutia's partner Felipe Guréndez, and Txetxu Rojo will have to find two alternatives for his next match against Oviedo. They really need points from that one, as they drop back down to fifteenth, only three points above local rivals Real Sociedad in the first relegation spot. Paca goes on to her birthday party a happy lady, knowing that her team is now safely ensconced in fifth place in the league. She will presumably be sitting in front of her TV set next Thursday wearing her pink shirt watching her boys take on Rosenborg in their latest adventure in the UEFA cup. Roy of the Rovers was never this good!