Real Sociedad held to draw by Athletic Bilbao

An end-to-end meeting at Anoeta Stadium has ended with Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao sharing the points following a 1-1 draw in their La Liga clash.

It took Sociedad less than two minutes to find the opening goal as Chori Castro delivered an inviting cross to Carlos Vela, who took advantage of space in the box to head home.

Enaut Zubikarai came to Sociedad's rescue in a frantic opening to the match by protecting the lead with a fine save from Aritz Aduriz's header.

Both sides looked dangerous in the final third of the pitch, and Vela came close late in the first half when his powerful strike forced Gorka Iraizoz to tip the ball wide.

A moment of hesitancy from the Sociedad defence should have gifted an equaliser to Bilbao, but Iker Muniain could only fire wide from a promising position in the box.

The travelling fans didn't have to wait much longer for a goal as Oscar de Marcos collected a cross from Markel Susaeta before getting his side back on level terms with an emphatic finish.

Aduriz came close to giving Bilbao the lead with a curling effort from the edge of the box which drifted just past the post.

However, the pressure was soon back on Bilbao as Aymeric Laporte received his second yellow card of the game to give Sociedad the numerical advantage with 10 minutes remaining.

Sergio Canales came agonisingly close to securing three points for Sociedad late on, but David Moyes was left frustrated as he watched the attacking midfielder strike the crossbar with a free kick.