Athletic Bilbao stretched their unbeaten run against Rayo Vallecano to nine matches after battling to a 1-1 draw at the Estadio de Vallecas on Saturday.
Rayo began brightly and almost grabbed an early lead inside three minutes when Pacha Espino’s deflected strike nearly crept inside the left post, but Unai Simón reacted sharply to tip the effort behind.
The Athletic goalkeeper was called into action again soon after, denying Florian Lejeune’s header before producing another fine save to keep out Álvaro García’s attempt as the hosts piled on early pressure.
Despite arriving in Madrid on the back of three straight LaLiga victories, Athletic struggled to assert themselves before the break and were punished 10 minutes before half-time.
Following a VAR review, García was judged to have timed his run to perfection before squaring for Jorge de Frutos, who slotted home at the far post to give Rayo the advantage.
Rayo’s confidence was understandable, having avoided defeat in the league whenever scoring first this season.
However, their lead lasted barely two minutes into the second half. A long delivery into the box was nodded down by Alex Berenguer into the path of Iñaki Williams, who controlled neatly and rifled a volley beyond the goalkeeper to restore parity.
The contest lost much of its intensity thereafter, with clear-cut chances at a premium.
Rayo were unable to reproduce their first-half dominance, while Athletic lacked the cutting edge to turn their improvement into a winner.
The result means Rayo have now lost just once in their last 12 competitive home matches, though they missed the opportunity to secure back-to-back league wins at home for the first time since February 2025.
They move up to 14th, three points clear of the relegation zone.
Athletic, meanwhile, remain eighth in the standings, missing the chance to close the gap on the European qualification places.
