Athletic won by a landslide and Rayo were convinced

Athletic won convincingly in San Mamés against a Rayo team that was outplayed from start to finish. The lions, after leading the scoreboard before the break, took advantage of Vallecano’s push in search of a tie to seal a resounding victory. Valverde’s men are deadly against the opposition goal.

Guruzeta, in full creative vein, managed to open the scoring with excellent target work by Iñaki Williams and Sancet. When the visitors came close, they ironically made it 2-0 with an own goal from Espino. The Williams brothers were later in charge to round off the local victory with two well-worked goals.

Bilbao fans were able to celebrate Nico’s renewal in style. The Spain international knows how to rise to the occasion. Beyond the goal itself, he also left some trademark internment.

Valverde was ready to repeat the same eleven for the fourth time in a row, but Vesga’s injury midway through the warm-up forced him to bring on Ander Herrera. Forced change and almost on the horn. San Mamés welcomed the newly renewed Nico Williams with a standing ovation.

Francisco, for his part, pulled the starting block that had just faced Barça. The visiting coach introduced only two variations. Pathé Ciss entered the double pivot in place of Trejo and Álvaro García served as a left-footed winger to replace De Frutos.

Athletic controlled the first half from almost kick-off. The lions, with composure and sense when it comes to detailing, gradually put in the back of an opponent who could barely get past the middle of the field. Their goalkeeper Dimitrievski, it’s true, hardly needed to intervene.

The persistence of Bilbao, who disallowed a goal for Guruzeta due to Nico Williams being offside according to a VAR assessment, paid off in the 23rd minute. Óscar Valentin fell asleep while playing the ball, Iñaki Williams stole it from him and He gave it to Sancet to leave it in Guruzeta’s boot himself. The native of San Sebastian scored and this time his goal did go up on the scoreboard.

The tone of the match, despite a timid hint of a reaction from the visitor, continued in the same parameters until half time. The lions won and dominated, but without a clear goal. Meanwhile, Unai Simón was another spectator.

Rayo, unchanged at the start of the second half, were on the verge of leveling after half-time with a header from Unai López after two poor clearances by Unai Simón and Paredes. Far from being 1-1, Iñaki Williams’ strike ended in Espino’s own goal soon after.

The Lions pulled back with the score in their favor and took advantage of the visitors’ need, which included triple simultaneous changes, to take a step forward to finish the job on the counterattack. The oldest of Williams first and the youngest later increased the difference on the scoreboard to four with just over 20 minutes remaining. Valverde started from there from the bench.

Athletic, with Yuri, Muniain, Berenguer, Prados and Nolaskoain as freshmen, committed themselves to spending minutes against a Rayo who, with Falcao up front, was looking for Unai Simón’s goal.