Athletic Club Strikes Twice in Two Minutes to Silence Celta at Balaídos

It took just two minutes for Athletic Club to flip the script at Balaídos. In the 19th minute, Alex Berenguer connected on a pass from Iñaki Williams and finished with his right foot from inside the box. Before Celta could respond, the second goal arrived in the 21st minute: Robert Navarro, after a through ball from Íñigo Ruiz de Galarreta, finished with his right foot from the center of the area to make it 0-2. That was the score at halftime, and it held all the way to the final whistle.

The match had started with Celta pressing a bit more into the opposing box: Williot Swedberg tested the goalkeeper early with a shot that was stopped, and Oihan Sancet answered for Athletic with two consecutive attempts that also ran into the home goalkeeper. But the script flipped in an instant with those two goals. Celta had their best chance to pull one back in the 36th minute, when Ferran Jutglà headed a shot off the crossbar, the clearest sign that things could have gone differently.

In the second half, the Galician side made four changes right away (Iago Aspas, Javi Rueda, Yoel Lago and Miguel Román all came on to start the half) looking for a response, and created a few chances through Swedberg and Sergio Carreira, but lacked the finishing touch: neither Carl Starfelt's header nor Aspas inside the box seriously troubled the Basque goalkeeper. Athletic, for its part, managed the lead and had more chances to extend it through Iñaki Williams, Nico Williams and Yuri Berchiche, but couldn't convert in the closing stretch.

The Numbers Back Up the Gap

Celta controlled more of the ball, but Athletic was clearly superior where it mattered most.

That edge in shots also shows up in the match's estimated xG, calculated after the fact based on the location of each attempt: 1.19 for Celta versus 2.90 for Athletic. In other words, the Basque side didn't just win on the scoreboard, it also created more and better chances over the full 90 minutes.

The result runs counter to what was projected before kickoff. Our preview gave Celta a 49% chance of winning, 28% for a draw and just 23% for a visiting win, with expected goals of 1.61 for the home side and 1.03 for the away side. None of that held up: Athletic struck fast and held the lead without any real scares.

What It Means in the Standings

In the LaLiga table, both teams arrived needing points. Celta sits with just 1 point through 3 matches (0 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses), while Athletic has 3 points also through 3 matches (1 win, 0 draws, 2 losses). The gap between the two sides in the standings is just 2 points, though Sunday's result should tilt things in the Basques' favor. For Celta, the loss confirms a start to the season that still hasn't taken off; for Athletic, the two early goals from Berenguer and Navarro were enough to take all three points from Balaídos.