BILBAO. Athletic Club beat Villarreal to win 2-1. It was Athletic Club to strike first with a goal of R. Garcia at the 14′. Then it was a goal in the 32′ minute to make things even for 1-1. Eventually, I. Muniain gave the win to Athletic Club in the 77′ minute with a penalty.

A. Berenguer missed a penalty (82′) for Athletic Club.​

The match was played at the San Mamés Barria stadium in Bilbao on Saturday and it started at 7:00 pm local time. In front of 38,698 spectators.​ The referee was Guillermo Cuadra Fernández with the assistance of Roberto Alonso Fernández and Juan José López Mir. The 4th official was Jaime Ruiz Álvarez. The weather was clear. The temperature was cold at 11.8 degrees Celsius or 53.29 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 77%.​

Match Statistics​

Athletic Club

2 - 1

Villarreal

  • 52 Ball Possession 48
Shots
  • 14 Total 12
  • 7 On Target 3
  • 7 Off Target 9
  • 1 Shots blocked 4
  • 98 Attack 78
  • 68 Dangerous attack 36
  • 62 Ball safe 75
  • 2 Penalties 0
  • 9 Corners 2
  • 3 Off Sides 4
Fouls
  • 6 Total 11
  • 0 Yellow Cards 3
  • 0 Double Yellow 0
  • 0 Red Card 0
Other
  • 5 Substitutions 4

Ball possession

The ball possession was similar. Athletic Club was in possession of the ball for 52% of the time vs. Villarreal that controlled the ball for 48% of the time.

Attitude and shots

Athletic Club was more aggressive with 68 dangerous attacks and 14 shots of which 7 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Athletic Club won the match​.

Athletic Club shot 14 times, 7 on target, 7 off target. On the opposite side, Villarreal shot 12 times, 3 on target, 9 off target.

Cards

Athletic Club didn’t receive any yellow card. Regarding the opposition, Villarreal received 3 yellow cards (P. Estupinan, A. Moreno and J. Foyth).

Match Timeline

Raúl García(goal)I. Williams
14'
21'
32'
Francis Coquelin(goal)A. Danjuma
55'
Juan Foyth- Yellow
63'
63'
Alberto Moreno- sub ->Francis Coquelin
65'
Asier Villalibre- sub ->I. Williams
72'
Oihan Sancet- sub ->R. Garcia
72'
75'
76'
Alberto Moreno- Yellow
Iker Muniain (penalty)
77'
80'
Álex Berenguer- missed penaltyÁlex Berenguer
82'
87'
Nico Williams- sub ->Iker Muniain
88'
Mikel Vesga- sub ->Dani García
90'

Standings

Standings
Team
Pts
Pl
Last 5
Real Madrid
86
38
FC Barcelona
73
38
Atlético Madrid
71
38
Sevilla
70
38
Real Betis
65
38
Real Sociedad
62
38
Villarreal
59
38
Athletic Club
55
38
Valencia
48
38
Osasuna
47
38
Celta de Vigo
46
38
Rayo Vallecano
42
38
Elche
42
38
Espanyol
42
38
Getafe
39
38
Cádiz
39
38
Mallorca
39
38
Granada
38
38
Levante
35
38
Deportivo Alavés
31
38

After this contest, Athletic Club will have 16 points like Rayo Vallecano to stay in the 7th place. On the opposite side, Villarreal will stay with 11 points to stay in the 13th place.

Next matches

In the next match in the La Liga, Athletic Club will play away against Espanyol on the 26th of October with a 13-9 head to head stats in favor of Espanyol (12 draws).

Villarreal will host Cádiz on the 26th of October with a 4-0 head to head record in favor of Villarreal (3 draws).

Athletic Club – Formation

Athletic Club
G
Unai Simón 1.Spain
6.8
D
Mikel Balenziaga 24.Spain
6.2
D
Iñigo Martínez 4.Spain
7.2
D
Iñigo Lekue 15.Spain
6.2
D
Dani Vivian 12.Spain
6.8
M
Dani García 14.Spain
6.4
90'
M
Unai Vencedor 16.Spain
7.4
M
Iker Muniain 10.Spain
7.8
88' 77'
M
Álex Berenguer 7.Spain
6.3
87'
F
Raúl García 22.Spain
7.0
72' 14'
F
Iñaki Williams 9.Ghana
7.3
72'
Substitutes
G
Jokin Ezkieta 13.Spain
D
Yeray Álvarez 5.Spain
D
Óscar de Marcos 18.Spain
D
Ander Capa 21.Spain
D
Álex Petxa 2.Spain
M
Oier Zarraga 19.Spain
6.4
87'
M
Mikel Vesga 6.Spain
90'
M
Oihan Sancet 8.Spain
6.8
72'
F
Asier Villalibre 20.Spain
6.6
72'
F
Jon Morcillo 11.Spain
F
Nico Williams 30.Spain
88'

Athletic Club adopted the conservative line-up (4-4-2).

The manager Marcelino García Toral decided to play with the following team: Unai Simón (6.8), Íñigo Lekue (6.2), Daniel Vivian (6.8), Iñigo Martínez (7.2), Mikel Balenziaga (6.2), Alex Berenguer (6.3), Unai Vencedor (7.4), Dani García (6.4), Iker Muniain (7.8), Iñaki Williams (7.3) and Raúl García (7.0).

The home team had on the bench: Asier Villalibre (6.6), Oier Zarraga (6.4), Mikel Vesga, Yeray, Jon Morcillo, Jokin Ezkieta, De Marcos, Capa, Oihan Sancet (6.8), Nico Williams and Álex Petxarroman.

Substitutions

Athletic Club made 5 changes: I. Williams for A. Villalibre (72′), R. Garcia for O. Sancet (72′), A. Berenguer for O. Zarraga (87′), I. Muniain for N. Williams (87′) and D. Garcia for M. Vesga (90′).

Best player: Iker Muniain​

The player that probably impressed the most for Athletic Club was Iker Muniain.

His rating is (7.8) with 1 goal, 54 passes (83% accurate) and 5 key passes. He was won 5 duels out of 11. He performed 5 crosses.

Villarreal – Formation

Villarreal
G
Gerónimo Rulli 13.Argentina
7.8
D
Raúl Albiol 3.Spain
7.1
D
Pervis Estupiñán 12.Ecuador
6.2
80'
D
Pau Torres 4.Spain
6.8
D
Juan Foyth 8.Argentina
7.1
65' 55'
M
Étienne Capoue 6.France
7.0
M
Dani Parejo 5.Spain
7.1
M
Francis Coquelin 19.France
7.3
63' 32'
M
Yéremy Pino 21.Spain
6.4
63'
F
Gerard Moreno 7.Spain
6.9
21'
F
Arnaut Danjuma 15.Netherlands
7.3
Substitutes
G
Sergio Asenjo 1.Spain
D
Mario Gaspar 2.Spain
D
Aïssa Mandi 22.Algeria
D
Alberto Moreno 18.Spain
6.4
63' 76'
D
Serge Aurier 25.Ivory Coast
6.4
65'
M
Moi Gómez 23.Spain
M
Vicente Iborra 10.Spain
M
Alfonso Pedraza 24.Spain
M
Rubén Peña 20.Spain
M
Samuel Chukwueze 11.Nigeria
6.7
21'
F
Paco Alcácer 9.Spain
F
Dani Raba 17.Spain
6.6
63'

Also Villarreal adopted the conservative line-up (4-4-2).

Regarding the opposition, Unai Emery Etxegoien played with: Gerónimo Rulli (7.8), Juan Foyth (7.1), Raúl Albiol (7.1), Pau Torres (6.8), Pervis Estupiñán (6.2), Yéremi Pino (6.4), Dani Parejo (7.1), Étienne Capoue (7.0), Francis Coquelin (7.3), Gerard Moreno (6.9) and Arnaut Danjuma (7.3).

The following players were sitting on the bench: Moi Gómez, Asenjo, Paco Alcácer, Iborra, Pedraza, Rubén Peña, Dani Raba (6.6), Mario Gaspar, A. Mandi, Samuel Chukwueze (6.7), Alberto Moreno (6.4) and Serge Aurier (6.4).

Villarreal could not rely on the presence of S. Chukwueze (injured) and S. Aurier (injured).

Substitutions

Villarreal made 4 changes: G. Moreno for S. Chukwueze (21′), F. Coquelin for A. Moreno (62′), Y. Pino for D. Raba (63′) and J. Foyth for S. Aurier (65′).

Best player: Gerónimo Rulli​

The most impressive player for Villarreal was the goalkeeper: Gerónimo Rulli. His rating is 7.81. He saved 1 penalty. He performed 5 saves.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the La Liga.​