Athletic Club beat Atletico to close on UCL spots

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Athletic Club closes the gap on Atletico with 2-0 win

Athletic Club continues its chase for Champions League football with a 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid.

Updated: Dec 16, 2023, 05:29 pm

Gorka Guruzeta and Nico Williams scored second-half goals to give Athletic Bilbao a 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday, lifting the Basque side up the LaLiga table to two points from the Champions League spots.

Unbeaten at home since losing to Real Madrid in their season opener in August, Athletic dominated proceedings but wasted a golden opportunity early in the first half when Ohian Sancet missed from the penalty spot.

But the locals kept up the pressure and opened the scoring with a close-range strike by Guruzeta in the 51st minute. Nico Williams secured the points with an outstanding strike into the top corner 13 minutes later.

Athletic are fifth in the LaLiga standings on 32 points, two behind Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, who have a game in hand. Girona are the leaders on 41 points, two ahead of Real Madrid.