Osasuna beat Hetafe 1-0 in La Liga's third round at Estadio El Sadar on Sunday evening. The Basque side took all three points from a match that rarely looked like producing more than a single decisive moment. By then it was already clear how the evening would end.
And here's the thing — the only real chance came at the halfway point. Ante Budimir converted a penalty in the 45th minute plus two after play was stopped inside the box. The goal gave Osasuna a narrow lead going into the break, though the visitors had already seen Djene booked before the whistle.
Hetafe pushed for an equaliser immediately after the restart. Enes Unal thought he had done it in the 52nd minute, but the effort was cancelled by VAR for offside. The Turkish striker was then shown yellow for his reaction, while Osasuna made changes at 65 minutes with Abel Garcia coming on.
The match settled into a pattern of Osasuna sitting deep and Hetafe searching for openings. The visitors crossed more frequently — 22 compared to seven — but struggled to find the target. By the final whistle, both sides had seen enough cards to keep the referee busy, with Osasuna collecting five yellows and Hetafe four.
The statistics told a familiar story. Hetafe held 55 per cent of possession and created more long-range attempts, but Osasuna's 1.67 expected goals proved more valuable than the visitors' 0.65. The hosts registered two shots on target against one, and while Hetafe threw seven attempts off target, accuracy rarely followed.
The result moved Osasuna closer to the top half, sitting fourth after three games with seven points. Hetafe remain in 14th place with three points from three matches, their poor start continuing despite a few promising signs in attack. The draw brought them together early in the season, but this was not a result either side would celebrate.
