Pamplona (Saturday, February 17, 2024) – Club Atlético Osasuna (9-5-11, 32 points) defeated Cádiz Club de Fútbol (2-11-15, 17 points) 2-0 at El Sadar on Saturday afternoon. A brace by forward Ante Budimir and a clean sheet by goalkeeper Sergio Herrera gave the three points to los rojillos in front of their fans.

The Navarrese side started the game by creating chances, primarily through the left flank with defender Johan Mojica. The left-back sent two crosses; on the first one, he couldn’t find the receiver, and Budimir missed to be on target in the second one. In a transition play, forward Robert Navarro played a ball to forward Chris Ramos, but the latter couldn’t find the back of the net.

In the second half, the rojillo side began controlling the game. In the 63rd minute, midfielder Rubén played a cross from the right flank, finding Budimir, who headed the ball to the bottom left corner to open the scoring. After the goal, Cádiz began to have the ball a little more but could not capitalize on their chances. However, los rojillos could close the opened spaces to stop them and recover possession. In the 87th minute, midfielder Pablo Ibáñez received a pass from Budimir and drove the ball to the six-yard box but couldn’t score. In stoppage time, defender Jesús Areso sent a cross to the middle of the box, where Budimir collected the ball and sealed the win for his team.

Osasuna returns to the field on Sunday, February 25, to face U.D. Las Palmas at Estadio Gran Canaria in Week 26 of LaLiga EA Sports. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CET (5:30 p.m. GMT/12:30 p.m. ET).

GAME NOTES

- Today, Osasuna and Cádiz met for the second time this season. Navarrese and Andulsians tied 1-1 at Estadio Nueva Mirandilla in their previous meeting on December 10, 2023. They have met 51 times and 32 on the top flight. Los rojillos now hold a record of 26-16-9 (16-12-4 in the top flight).
- Forward Ante Budimir recorded his seventh brace as a rojillo and his third of the season. The Croatian international has scored 40 goals with Osasuna in Primera División; he is now only five goals away from tying Jan Urban as the second top scorer in Primera for the Navarrese side. Budimir has now scored 13 league goals (14 across all competitions), tying his best in a single season in 2019-20 with Mallorca. This year is the first time in his career to score 14 goals across all competitions.
- Goalkeeper Sergio Herrera recorded his eighth clean sheet of the season. This was his 180th game defending Osasuna.
- Defender Jorge Herrando played his 10th game with the first team.
- Defender Rubén Peña played his 40th league with Osasuna.

BOX SCORE
CA Osasuna 2-0 Cádiz CF

GOALS:
OSA: Ante Budimir 12 (Rubén García 1) 63’
OSA: Ante Budimir 13 (Jesús Areso 2) 90+1’

DISCIPLINE:
CAD: Joseba Zaldúa (Yellow Card) 24’
OSA: Johan Mojica (Yellow Card) 26’
CAD: Lucas Pires (Yellow Card) 31’
OSA: Aimar Oroz (Yellow Card) 42’
OSA: Pablo Ibáñez (Yellow Card) 88’

CA Osasuna: Sergio Herrera; David García (C), Jon Moncayola, Aimar Oroz (Kike Barja, m. 78), Rubén García (Lucas Torró, m. 78), Rubén Peña (Jesús Areso, m. 60), Moi Gómez, Ante Budimir, Johan Mojica (Juan Cruz, m. 67), Jorge Herrando, Iker Muñoz (Pablo Ibáñez, m. 60)
Subs not used: Aitor Fernández, Pablo Valencia; Unai García, Raúl García, Alejandro Catena

Cádiz CF: Jeremías Ledesma (C); Joseba Zaldúa (Iván Alejo, m. 46), Fali, Rubén Alcaraz, Victor Chust, Juanmi, Chris Ramos (Maxi Gómez, m. 64), Gonzalo Escalante (Diadie Samassekou, m. 64), Jorge Mere (Sergi Guardiola, m. 76), Robert Navarro (Darwin Machis, m. 72), Lucas Pires
Subs not used: David Gil; Rubén Sobrino, Álex Fernández, Rominigue Kouame, Momo Mbaye, Iza, Aiham Ousou                                                                                                                      

STATS SUMMARY:
OSA/CAD
Shots: 11/5
Shots on Goal: 4/1
Corners: 5/4
Fouls: 20/12
Offsides: 1/5
Possession: 55.8%/44.2%

Referee: Francisco José Hernández Maeso 
Assistant referees: Iván Massó Granado & Abraham Pérez Dapía
Fourth official: Guillermo Conejero Sánchez 
VAR: Carlos Del Cerro Grande 
Assistant VAR: Guillermo Santiago Sacristán