Ath Bilbao 2 - 1 Villarreal: Muniain the hero as Bilbao sink Yellow Submarine

A second-half penalty from Iker Muniain lifted Athletic Bilbao to a huge home win over a sloppy Villarreal side that lost their star forward, Gerard Moreno, to injury. Bilbao has lost just once at the San Mamés in La Liga this season.

Villarreal got off to a strong start and could have scored early thanks to Arnaut Danjuma, but Athletic Bilbao took control of the game from the 10th minute onward and never let it go. As such, it wasn’t surprising to see Raúl García breaking the deadlock before the 15th mark - the cultured playmaker took advantage of a pass from Iñaki Williams to put the Basque side in front. To make things even more complicated for Villarreal, star forward Gerard Moreno left the game midway through the first half with an injury.

It seemed Athletic Club were going to close out the first half with a one-goal lead, but Villarreal had other plans. A long ball from Pau Torres found Danjuma, and the former Bournemouth winger found Francis Coquelin on the edge of the box. The former Arsenal midfielder blasted a shot that deflected off a defender and sneaked past Unai Simón to level the score just a few minutes before the HT break.

The late equaliser was nothing more than an oasis in the desert for Villarreal, though, as Athletic controlled possession and looked the more threatening side in the beginning of the second half. Despite the fact that the second half was a back-and-forth affair, and considering both sides created threatening scoring chances, Athletic would eventually recover the lead in the 76th minute thanks to Muniain. The star winger stepped up when the team needed him the most, and he drilled a penalty that came following a VAR check on an Alberto Moreno foul over Unai Vencedor.

Villarreal had almost 20 minutes to find another equaliser late in the half, but they were not able to muster any dangerous sequences. If anything, Athletic Club could have added a third goal with another penalty, but Alex Berenguer could not convert from the spot. That miss didn’t have consequences, though, and the Basque side kept the three points at home in a game where they dominated during most of the contest.