First-half flurry sees Athletic Club beat Celta Vigo & claim first win of season

[p]With one point on the board between them before tonight, both teams made seven changes to their starting lineups in the hope of quickly improving their fortunes.[/p][p]It was the new-look [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/celta-vigo/8pvUZFhf/"]Celta[/a] who created the first real chance when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jutgla-ferran/Wbz0q867/"]Ferran Jutgla[/a] chased a ball over the top and squared to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/swedberg-williot/KluZeL4G/"]Williot Swedberg[/a], but he planted his effort straight at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simon-unai/Ao9Vw3hi/"]Unai Simon[/a].[/p][p]At the other end, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sancet-ohian/hpZLKZVC/"]Oihan Sancet[/a] tested [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/radu-andrei/4xYjfkEG/"]Ionut Radu[/a] with a pair of strikes in quick succession and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/laporte-aymeric/SYnaB65s/"]Aymeric Laporte[/a] sent a header inches over the crossbar, but those warning signs weren’t heeded by the hosts, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ath-bilbao/IP5zl0cJ/"]Athletic[/a] went ahead in the 20th minute.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/berenguer-alejandro/nuQn903r/"]Alex Berenguer[/a] dribbled into the area, opened up his body and curled the ball beyond the goalkeeper for his first goal since December.[/b][/p][p]Within 10 seconds of the hosts kicking off, Athletic were putting them under pressure again and winning the ball back high up the pitch.[/p][p][b]That allowed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-inaki/W4HzaGVn/"]Inaki Williams[/a] to square to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/inigo-ruiz/AqAnv17H/"]Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta[/a], who played a delightful through ball which [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/navarro-robert/6k2jV1mo/"]Robert Navarro[/a] collected and steered into the bottom corner for 2-0.[/b][/p][embed guid="c0b64db6-26f0-4046-85ab-0bc9d9f382af" url="https://x.com/LaLigaEN/status/2094155713949974850" social-type="twitter" /][p]As the first half reached its final 10 minutes, a Radu save to deny Williams prevented the night getting worse for the hosts before it very nearly got better, but Jutgla’s header from a corner struck the top of the bar, resigning Celta to a two-goal deficit at half-time.[/p][p]Claudio Giraldez made four substitutions at the break to spark a reaction from his side, but despite plenty of endeavour from Celta, it was the Lions who had the half’s first opportunity, as a flowing move ended with Sancet failing to keep his shot down.[/p][p]Just before the hour mark, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/starfelt-carl/ptNHGRiJ/"]Carl Starfelt[/a] got free at the near post at a corner and sent his header narrowly wide, but that was a rare chance for the home side.[/p][p]The final 10 minutes began with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-nico/Cp7lcVjJ/"]Nico Williams[/a] curling an effort just over the top corner as he looked to ice the Athletic cake, before the substitute had a penalty claim waved away and dragged a golden chance wide.[/p][p]The Basque side needed no more goals though, and avoided going winless in their opening three LaLiga matches for the first time since 2011, and kept just a second clean sheet in 31 league games.[/p][p]Celta, meanwhile, shouldn’t be too phased by their poor start, as they finished sixth last season despite winning none of their first nine.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/radu-andrei/4xYjfkEG/"]Ionut Radu[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/celta-vigo/8pvUZFhf/"]Celta Vigo[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ath-bilbao-IP5zl0cJ/celta-vigo-8pvUZFhf/summary/stats/?mid=h2vk6tjT"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Key stats" id="afb69e1a-a172-4833-8e93-6d80409ec851" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="0966cccf-0b37-4b4f-8596-48381cb5f4ca" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /]