Athletic hand Sociedad their first loss, a 3-0 thrashing. From www.cnnsi.com/soccer MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Midfielder Joseba Etxeberria struck twice Sunday as Real Sociedad slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Basque archrival Athletic de Bilbao and lost its unbeaten Spanish league record this season in the 20th round of matches. The Spanish international netted in the 18th and 74th minutes, with substitute Santi Ezquerro adding a late third, as Bilbao pulled off an emphatic victory against Sociedad, which lay 15 league places ahead at start of play. Second-place Real Madrid fought back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 tie at Espanyol thanks to second-half goals by Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo and Brazilian left back Roberto Carlos. At the top of the table, Sociedad has 43 points with Real Madrid on 39. Valencia is next with 38 points while Deportivo moves up to fourth with 35 and Betis drops to fifth with 33. Celta lies sixth with 30. Sociedad, which had maintained its unbeaten record for the first half of the season, gave a poor display in a match played in incessant rain. Bilbao started the better team and struck first in the 18th minute when Etxeberria clipped home a freekick from midfielder Javi Gonzalez. The home side almost doubled its lead eight minutes later when midfielder Fran Yeste's long shot rattled goalkeeper Sander Westerveld's left post. Bilbao's bustling style kept Sociedad at bay and the game developed into a hard-fought encounter, lacking in finesse. On the few occasions that Sociedad managed to get close to Bilbao's goal, the marksmanship displayed by its leading scorers Darko Kovacevic and Nihat Kahveci this season seemed to have deserted them. Etxeberria killed off Sociedad's hopes of preserving its unbeaten record when he lashed home from the edge of the area. Sociedad's bad day continued when Nihat was ejected with five minutes remaining for scything down midfielder Bittor Alkiza near the halfway line. Bilbao crowned its win with a third goal in injury time by Ezquerro, who had replaced striker Ismael Urzaiz two minutes earlier, after a swift counterattack.
I imagine ending Real Sociedad's unbeaten run has to have brought a smile to every Athletic Bilbao fan!