Athletic Bilbao boosted their European ambitions with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Real Betis at San Mamés, ending a frustrating four-match winless streak in La Liga.
After struggling for goals in recent outings, the hosts came out with intent and nearly struck twice inside the opening minutes.
Aymeric Laporte headed narrowly wide from Alex Berenguer’s delivery, before Berenguer himself tested Pau López, who reacted quickly to deny Iñaki Williams on the rebound.
The breakthrough finally came midway through the first half, and it arrived from an unlikely source.
Williams turned provider, teeing up Dani Vivian, who calmly slotted home his first goal of the season from the edge of the area.
Fresh from their emphatic European win, Betis struggled to find rhythm, with head coach Manuel Pellegrini visibly frustrated during his milestone 300th game in charge.
Matters worsened just before the break when Williams struck again as creator, racing clear before setting up Oihan Sancet for a simple finish into an empty net.
Pellegrini responded with a triple substitution at half-time, introducing Héctor Bellerín, Sergi Altimira and Pablo Fornals in a bid to turn the tide.
However, Athletic almost extended their lead shortly after the restart, only for López to produce a fine save to keep out Berenguer’s long-range effort.
Betis gradually grew into the contest, and Abde Ezzalzouli forced a sharp stop from Unai Simón. Their persistence paid off with 15 minutes remaining, as Fornals curled a superb free-kick into the top corner to set up a tense finish.
Substitute Cédric Bakambu thought he had equalised moments later, but his effort was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
Despite late pressure, Athletic held firm to secure all three points. The victory lifts them to ninth place, just three points off the European spots, while Betis remain fifth but extend their winless league run to five matches.
