Athletic Club secured a narrow 1-0 victory over EDF Logroño in the second round of the Primera División women's regular season on Saturday. The match ended without drama despite an early red card that left the hosts defending for most of the second half. M. Torre Larranaga's thirty-fourth minute strike proved decisive.
And here's the thing — the game was already tilted before the goal. N. Landaluze collected a yellow card in the fifth minute and another fifteen minutes later, before being shown the red. By then, Logroño had to rearrange their approach entirely, and the imbalance showed in how Athletic controlled proceedings.
Torre Larranaga finished from open play after sustained pressure, but there was a moment of controversy when I. Oguiza's effort was cancelled by VAR in the fifty-fourth minute. The incident came after both players had already picked up yellow cards, adding to Logroño's mounting frustrations.
Come the break, Athletic made changes with A. Leitner and N. Zaldivar coming off in the forty-sixth minute. Logroño responded with a triple substitution at sixty-two minutes — I. Oguiza, A. Campos and J. Amezaga all replaced — but the effort came too late to salvage anything from the contest.
To be fair, we had called for the away win with forty per cent confidence before kick-off. The result confirms that Athletic's consistency at this level is what separates them from teams still finding their rhythm. They took their chance when it mattered.
The standings now show Athletic in third place with six points from two wins, while Logroño sit fifth on three points after one victory and one defeat. The gap between them is clear, and Saturday's result only widened it.
Three points on the road matters, particularly for a side that already knows what it takes to compete at this level. Logroño will need to regroup quickly, but this was a match decided by preparation and execution rather than spectacle.
