Athletic Club - Real Betis

42 is the total number of points Athletic Club have in the table, with eight league matches to go, in which they will have to grit their teeth as they have done it today against Real Betis if they want to fight for a keenly-contested Europa League position. A well-timed back-heel goal from Iñigo Martínez -his debut goal as a lion- gives them three vital points ahead of Tuesday’s difficult fixture on the road at Camp Now, not having much time to draw breath.

It was not an easy contest. There are no easy matches in the First Division, but the fact that San Mamés is empty does not make things any easier, since the supporters are the ones who give the lions a boost when they are running out of strength. In the first hour of the match, Athletic performed remarkably well, getting ahead early in the game thanks to a set-piece routine from Muniain, Córdoba and Iñigo Martínez, on 6 minutes. A back-heel shot that took Joel by surprise. We are certain the international footballer missed the celebration with their fans, but he will surely have the opportunity to do it soon.

Apart from a counterattack led by Fekir that Núñez blocked on time, Gaizka Garitano’s lads barely suffered in the first stage of the game. What is more, Capa and Yuri hurt them every time they got near the box. Athletic could have settled the match with a second goal in a couple of chances after the break. Dani García’s pass put Williams alone in front of the visitor’s goalkeeper, but the ball was stopped with his body. A corner kick taken by Unai López was headed by Raúl García but it slammed the woodwork.

Unai Simón was the other key player of the victory. The goalkeeper made three decisive interventions. He stopped Borja Iglesias in a one-on-one, he made an unbelievable save from Fekir in a play that ended up in a penalty foul committed by Iñigo Martínez, granted by VAR, and he demonstrated his skills after a free kick from Tello on 90 minutes.

On 82 minutes, the ball was shot from the penalty spot, but the outcome was favourable to Athletic as Canales put the ball over the bar. After the scare, Villalibre received a ball from De Marcos and hit the crossbar with a back-heel shot, and Vesga was close to scoring the 2-0. We managed to get an important win on a special date for captain Muniain, who has now appeared in the same number of matches as the legendary footballer Panizo (414).