Club Necaxa - Athletic Club

Athletic Club leave Mexico on a high note after beating Necaxa 2-0 in Aguascalientes thanks to a brace from debutant Javi Martón. The Lions outplayed Nexaca in the match which celebrated the Mexican's outfit's centenary year.

The second and last match of our Mexican tour was again played in a great atmosphere. The Estadio Victoria was full to the brim and just like in Guadalajara a large group of Athletic fans was present.

Ernesto Valverde started the game with a strong side. Ander Herrera was deployed at a centre-back due to Unai Egiluz being injured.

Los Leones had plenty of the ball and came close to scoring in the 13th minute after a great team move. Iker Muniain set up Nico Williams, but the winger was unable to beat goalkeeper Ezequiel Unsain in a one-on-one situation. Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta was then inches away from getting a touch to a rebound off a Raúl García shot.

Necaxa only threatened Unai Simón with long-range shots and Athletic struggled to break the deadlock too. In the 40th minute Nico Williams came off after picking up a knock.

Athletic started with a young eleven in the second half, including new signing Javi Martón, who introduced himself in the the best possible way. In his second minute as a Lion, the ex-Real player tucked away a calm finish after dispossessing the home goalkeeper.

In the 67th minute, Gorka Guruzeta almost made it 0-2 with a thunderous low effort from range that struck the goalie's right-hand post.

Not long after Martón completed his brace when Unai Gómez spotted his run with an incisive through ball. Martón's first shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, but he pounced on the loose ball and slotted the ball into the net.

Apart from a couple of headers that were well saved by Simon, Athletic suffered no major problems, although they were reduced to ten men in the 80th minute when Peru Nolaskoain received a second yellow card. The match was also stopped for a couple of minutes due to offensive chants.