Athletic Club - RC Celta
Matchday 6
Liga

Athletic Club - RC Celta

Athletic Club
Athletic Club
31
RC Celta
RC Celta
  • 4',39' Guruzeta
  • 80' A. Djaló
  • Iago Aspas 25' (p.)

LocationSan Mamés , Bilbo

48.373 assistants

Guruzeta stuns Celta and Djaló finishes them off

A brace from the striker, the second an exceptional effort, and the former Braga forward's first goal as a Lion launch Athletic up the table

Three consecutive victories have Athletic Club soaring up the table and put them in high spirits ahead of Thursday's European opener in Rome.

This evening's 3-1 win over Celta Vigo, LaLiga's in-form team due to their ambition and attacking style, is  priceless for Athletic.

It took a lot of hard work and the reward came thanks to Gorka Guruzeta, who scored a brace to get off the mark this season.

The no.12's goals came at the best moment, just as Athletic were starting to struggle. He stunned Celta Vigo with an opportunistic first effort and then scored a superb header from an Alex Berenguer cross. 

Athletic guarded the points with their lives in the second half and Álvaro Djaló killed of the match with a diving header from an immaculate Iñaki Williams cross. San Mamés celebrated in style, and rightly so.

It was not a bed of roses. Celta are the best side to have visited San Mames so far this season and they left empty-handed. Athletic's path was smoothed in the second minute, when they took advantage of Oscar Mingueza's injury and Celta's naivety to make it 1-0 seconds later.

Óscar de Marcos released Iñaki Williams, a panther all afternoon, down the right flank. Oihan Sancet was the first to Iñaki's cutback but Guruzeta caught the rebound on the volley to score.

Claudio Giráldez's daring side were unfazed. They went up a gear and Iago Aspas went down in front of an onrushing Julen Agirrezabala, who picked up a knock in the action.

The referee gave a penalty and Aspas scored. The goalkeeper, who was hurting, made a great save from Marcos Alonso, but was forced to make way for Alex Padilla at the break.

The key moment came in the 38th minute, shortly after a disallowed Celta goal. Berenguer put in a great cross to the near post, and Guruzeta scored with a header reminiscent of Aritz Aduriz.

After the break, Athletic regrouped and never looked back. San Mamés applauded as Berenguer and Sancet attacked with ease and skill.

The killer blow came when Iñaki played in Djaló for his first goal in the red-and-white stripes.

Athletic are riding high in LaLiga on 13 points, nine of which have arrived in the same week, and now we prepare for Thursday Europa League opener in Rome.