Nine-man Athletic Club continue Champions League qualification bid with victory over Getafe
The hosts came into this clash on the periphery of the battle for European qualification, while Ernesto Valverde’s side had seen their top-four charge falter after a 3-1 defeat to Atlético Madrid last time out.
That dip in form translated into a nervy start, as Luis Milla’s deep free-kick picked out Omar Alderete, and Ilaix Moriba fired over the bar from the latter’s cut-back across the box.
Athletic broke the deadlock however, from their first attempt on target when Iñaki Williams curled an unstoppable right-footed strike past David Soria for his 10th league goal of the season.
Getafe searched for an immediate response through Mason Greenwood, who brilliantly cut inside the Athletic defence before his subsequent strike was parried to safety by Unai Simón and left the visitors with a slender HT lead.
Greenwood was involved in the thick of the action again after the restart and forced Simón into a two-handed save to push away his curling effort.
The Lions struck again moments later though, with Nico Williams making a brilliant run and pass for his brother Iñaki to score his second of the game and give the visitors a two-goal lead.
Everything appeared to be going smoothly for the visitors until Yeray Álvarez was shown a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity after using his hand to intercept Óscar Rodríguez.
In light of their one-man advantage, Getafe pressed forward with renewed vigour and almost halved the deficit when Greenwood saw another shot cannon off the post, before Nemanja Maksimović headed wide from his cross moments later.
José Bordalás would have been wondering how his side had not got off the mark, as substitute Fabrizio Angileri almost made an immediate impact with a fine cross from the left which Maksimović could not head on target.
In the final quarter-hour, Valverde was left in disbelief after Aitor Paredes was shown a second yellow card for pulling down Milla, reducing the visitors to nine men. The Athletic boss was given his marching orders for his angry protests after Raúl García conceded a penalty for handling Milla’s ball into the area.
Simón was not to be beaten though, and comfortably kept out Greenwood’s spot-kick to keep his clean sheet intact.
Ultimately, the Lions held onto a hard-fought win which moves them to within three points of Atlético having played one game more than Diego Simeone’s side.
As for Getafe, this spirited display was not enough to earn a share of the spoils with European qualification appearing to be too big of an ask now with only four games remaining this season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Unai Simón (Athletic Club)