Madrid  - Athletic Bilbao cruised into the quarter-finals of the Spanish King's Cup on Thursday with a 2-0 home win overlocal rivals Osasuna.

The comfortable victory puts Bilbao through on a 3-1 aggregate, because they battled out a 1-1 draw in Pamplona last week.

Veteran Igor Gabilondo shot Bilbao ahead with his trusty left foot after just five minutes. In the 18th minute Osasuna defender Josetxo made it 2-0 by turning a shot from Markel Susaeta into his own goal.

Osasuna's only chance to turn the tie around came in the 64th minute when they were awarded a penalty. Bilbao keeper Gorka Iraizoz, however, saved the spot-kick of former Real Madrid striker Javier Portillo.

In injury time Osasuna defender Ludovic Deloporte was sent off for an ugly foul on Susaeta.

"We have worked really hard to get this far in the cup," said the promising Susaeta.

"We are enjoying the experience, and want it to continue."

In the quarter-finals, Bilbao will meet Sporting Gijon, who edged their way past Valladolid on Wednesday.

Bilbao - who only field local Basque players - have won the cup 23 times, but not since 1984.

The other quarter-final pairings are Barcelona-Espanyol, Sevilla- Valencia and Betis-Mallorca. dpa