Athletic Bilbao beat Celta Vigo 2-1 in their mid-table La Liga clash at Balaidos this evening.
Goals from Aritz Aduriz and Mikel San Jose led Athletic to victory before Joaquin Larrivey scored a consolation in the 64th minute.
Celta had the first chance of the match when Alex Lopez fired over the bar. Lopez again took aim in the 15th minute, but his shot was saved by Gorka Iraizoz.
Bilbao broke the deadlock from the penalty spot in the 17th minute after Augusto Fernandez committed the foul. Aduriz placed the spot kick into the bottom-left corner of the net.
Aduriz continued to threaten the Celta defence and hit the bar with a bullet header from a corner.
Athletic did score from a corner just a minute later when defender San Jose finished from close range.
Celta were looking to pull a goal back in the second half as Santi Mina's shot was saved on the hour mark.
Larrivey got the goal in the 64th minute, heading in from close range after Orellana's cross, but Celta could not find an equaliser despite efforts from Fabian Orellana, Nolito and Gustavo Cabral.
San Jose received his marching orders with five minutes remaining for a second bookable offence.
The win sees Athletic climb to eighth in the La Liga table, while Celta Vigo remain in 10th.
Jonathan McIntosh
