Villarreal continued their impressive push for European football as they earned a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Athletic Club at San Mamés, completing a league double over their opponents for the first time since the 2010/11 season.
The visitors started brightly in the La Liga encounter, with La Liga seeing Villarreal create the first clear chance when Pape Gueye forced a sharp save from Unai Simón early on.
The breakthrough came in the 26th minute after a quick counterattack, as Tani Oluwaseyi set up Sergi Cardona, who produced a delicate finish over Simón to give Villarreal the lead.
Despite Athletic’s response through efforts from Yuri Berchiche and Mikel Jauregizar, Villarreal struck again in first-half stoppage time.
Alfon González capitalised on an error from Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta, raced through on goal, and calmly finished past Simón to double the advantage.
Athletic improved after the break and pushed forward aggressively, with Simón keeping them in the contest by denying Tajon Buchanan from a tight angle.
However, Villarreal remained dangerous on the break, and González almost added a third, firing narrowly wide from close range.
The hosts eventually found a lifeline in the 84th minute when Gorka Guruzeta scored his 14th goal of the season, reducing the deficit and setting up a tense finish.
Athletic briefly thought they had found an equaliser to swing momentum further their way, but Nicolas Pépé’s late strike was ruled out for offside after VAR intervention.
In the end, Villarreal held firm to secure all three points, strengthening their hold on third place and moving closer to sealing a UEFA Champions League spot next season.
For Athletic, the defeat extended their winless run without a La Liga clean sheet to 15 matches and left them still chasing European qualification.
