Athletic Bilbao 2 - Deportivo La Coruña 2

Bilbao: Lafuente; Larrainzar, Oscar Vales, Lacruz, Larrazábal; Urrutia, Orbaiz (Alkiza 61'); Etxeberria, Julen Guerrero, Javi González (Yeste 31'); Urzaiz. 4-2-3-1.
Deportivo: Molina; Manuel Pablo, César, Ramis, Romero; Scaloni (Víctor 89'), Donato, Emerson, Fran (Capdevila 91'); Makaay, Pandiani (Valerón 79'). 4-4-2.

Team changes: Bilbao: Javi González for Yeste / Depor: Ramis for Helder.

Goals:
1-0. 07. Larrainzar. Shot through ruck of players after corner not fully cleared.
1-1. 36. Makaay. Headed over keeper after deep cross from Fran on left.
1-1. 39. Makaay. Jumped on bad back pass by Larrazábal to round keeper.
2-2. 73. Larrazábal (penalty). Linesman ruled that Ramis and César fouled Julen.

A controversial penalty decision in the second half by referee Daudén Ibáñez deprived Deportivo of victory in a match brought forward to Saturday night. Two goals from Roy Makaay had turned the game around in the first half, and Depor were holding on when the ball came over from the right. Julen Guerrero ran in flanked by César and Ramis, and as all three went up Guerrero fell to the ground, sandwiched between the two. Play continued in the area, but when the ball went out assistant referee Cote Sáez ran over to Daudén to report that in his opinion César had fouled Julen and that he should give a penalty. Daudén immediately pointed to the spot and penalty specialist Larrazábal converted the kick, his fourth of the season and by coincidence the third awarded by Daudén Ibáñez to Bilbao this season. Was it a foul? True, César's arm was all over Julen, but there are many incidents like that every match that go unpunished, and Julen hardly protested as play continued.

César and Ramis were playing together for the first time this season in the heart of the defence, with first choice defenders Helder suspended, Naybet on international duty and Donato playing in his old midfield role. This was Ramis's first start in over 12 months. Irureta kept to the 4-4-2 line up he introduced successfully in the last match against Málaga. Pandiani kept his place up front alongside Makaay, with Tristán and Fernando left on the bench as a penalty for their comments against the manager which were picked up by television channel Canal Plus last week. Irureta also diffused a difficult situation, leaving Djalminha out of the squad after he had threatened to take on the Spanish federation and FIFA with a civil court appeal against his two match ban. Bilbao stuck to the line up which has brought them two victories in a row, the only change being Javi González for Yeste, although Yeste had to come on after half an hour after González picked up an injury. After Pandiani shot into the side netting for the visitors, Athletic took the lead, Larrainzar driving a shot through a sea of legs past the unsighted Molina after a cleared corner fell to him outside the area. But with Bilbao seemingly in command, Makaay caught the defence napping twice in three minutes, firstly outjumping Oskar Vales to head over Lafuente, and then pouncing on a loose back pass by Larrazábal to round Molina and shoot into the empty net.

After scoring twice in the last match Urzaiz went back to being a pumpkin, and he was off target on the couple of occasions he was given by the defence. Rojo brought on Alkiza for Orbaiz as Bilbao came out, but they didn't create too much danger before the penalty decision allowed Larrazábal to make up for his earlier mistake. Minutes later Julen Guerrero hit a scorching free kick through the defensive wall which Molina did well to punch away, and Irureta decided that maybe a point was enough, bringing on Valerón for Pandiani, saving his last two substitutions for the dying moments to kill time. With Barcelona only drawing as well depor stay in second place for now, although whether it was a good result or not depends on the result between Valencia and Real Madrid on Sunday. Bilbao stay within sight of the UEFA spots on 27 points, and they too are waiting to see how things pan out after the full round of games. They have to go on to play Barça and Madrid now, but they will be thankful to get the big three out of the way early to allow them to concentrate on winning a place in Europe. With no cup distractions any more, they could be an outside tip to do so. They certainly have the quality players to make it.