BILBAO, Spain, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Real Sociedad took control of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie with a 1-0 first-leg win at Athletic Bilbao as Benat Turrientes struck in the second half in the Basque derby on Wednesday.
The clash between the long-time rivals was finely balanced in the first half, but the visitors were the more composed of the two sides and are well-placed ahead of the return leg at San Sebastian's Anoeta on March 4.
La Real, unbeaten in 10 matches since Pellegrino Matarazzo took charge in mid-December, were sharper in a lively first half at San Mames but found Athletic's second-choice goalkeeper Alex Padilla, deputising for Unai Simon in the Cup, in fine form.
Padilla first produced a sharp save to thwart Pablo Marin's close-range effort from a counter-attack in the 25th minute and then denied Jon Martin with a reflex stop after Carlos Soler's pinpoint free kick six minutes later.
Mikel Oyarzabal went close for the visitors soon afterwards, while a last-ditch sliding tackle prevented Inaki Williams from capitalising on an Athletic counter-attack before halftime.
Padilla continued his heroics in the second half, pulling off a brilliant one-handed save within a minute of the restart to keep out Oyarzabal's low strike from the edge of the box.
From the rebound, Marin struck the post.
Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde introduced Nico Williams in the 55th minute, but the Spain forward, still recovering from a persistent groin injury, struggled to provide a decisive spark.
The breakthrough finally came in the 62nd minute when Athletic's defence was caught trying to play out from the back.
Carlos Soler's interception for Sociedad set up Goncalo Guedes, whose chip over the advancing Padilla fell invitingly for Turrientes to dispatch the ball into the empty net.
"We're happy, but there's still the second leg to play. It's a good result, but we should have scored more," Turrientes told Movistar Plus.
The winners of the tie face Atletico Madrid or Barcelona, who meet in the Spanish capital on Thursday, with the second leg on March 3 at Camp Nou.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Ken Ferris)
