By Our Reporter
Athletic Bilbao crushed Ademola Lookman’s Atletico Madrid 3-0 on Saturday, handing Diego Simeone’s side their first defeat of the LaLiga season at San Mames.
Nico Williams, Robert Navarro and Oihan Sancet were on target as Athletic secured a convincing victory and made it back-to-back wins under former Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic.
The defeat was a major setback for Atletico, who struggled to respond after Athletic scored twice in quick succession early in the second half.
“Their two goals, in the blink of an eye, did us a lot of damage,” Atletico midfielder Pablo Barrios told Movistar.
Atletico had looked the more dangerous side during much of the first half but failed to make their opportunities count.
Lee Kang-In struck the post in the third minute after Athletic’s defence was opened up, while goalkeeper Unai Simon later denied Alex Baena.
At the other end, Oihan Sancet fired narrowly into the side-netting before Barrios hit the post for Atletico shortly before half-time.
Athletic, however, came out strongly after the break and stunned their visitors with two goals in two minutes.
The Williams brothers combined for the opening goal in the 46th minute. Inaki Williams’ deflected effort fell kindly for his younger brother Nico, who headed the ball into the net.
Two minutes later, Navarro doubled Athletic’s advantage after Inaki Williams set him up.
Simeone admitted that the rapid double blow effectively changed the game.
“We were good in the first half but the game got away from us in those (couple of) minutes,” he said. “We lacked in the second half everything that we had in the first.”
The Atletico manager made several changes in an attempt to revive his side, including introducing Julian Alvarez, who had recently been linked with a move to Barcelona.
Alvarez, returning from illness, failed to make a significant impact. The Argentina international managed only one shot, which Simon saved comfortably.
Athletic completed the rout in the 90th minute when Sancet reacted to a loose ball following a blocked cross and calmly stroked it home.
The victory gave Athletic six points from their last two matches after they had opened the campaign with consecutive defeats.
“It’s always good to win games, especially at home,” Terzic said.
Atletico now face a difficult test on Wednesday when they travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool in the Champions League.
Elsewhere in LaLiga, newly promoted Deportivo La Coruna claimed an impressive 3-2 victory away to Villarreal to move provisionally into fourth place.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang continued his outstanding form, scoring for the fourth consecutive match and providing two assists in Deportivo’s comeback victory.
Former Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe gave Villarreal an early lead before Luismi Cruz equalised for Deportivo before half-time.
An Adama Traore own goal restored Villarreal’s advantage, but Zakaria Eddahchouri levelled before Aubameyang, 37, completed Deportivo’s comeback with the winning goal.
Rayo Vallecano also secured a 3-2 victory over Racing Santander, with Sergio Camello scoring twice.
Attention now turns to Barcelona, who visit Valencia on Sunday knowing victory would move them three points clear of Real Madrid, who were beaten 1-0 by Real Betis on Friday.