Sporting de Gijon 0 - 2 Athletic Bilbao: Athletic Bilbao into top six with Sporting Gijon win

Posted Monday, March 07, 2016 by PA

Ernesto Valverde celebrated signing a new contract as Athletic Bilbao boss with a 2-0 victory at Sporting Gijon.

Valverde, who this week extended his stay with the Basque club until the summer of 2017, watched his team earn a third straight win to move them up to sixth place in La Liga, although Aymeric Laporte's unfortunate red card in the second half soured the mood somewhat.

Athletic might have already been ahead before Benat Etxebarria's free-kick opened the scoring after 27 minutes. Benat curled his shot into the far corner of the net from the left side of the penalty area but Sporting goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar should have done better, allowing the ball pass through his hands.

Valverde's side dominated and always looked comfortable but it took until the 59th minute to score the second goal - however Oscar de Marcos' strike was worth the wait.

Aritz Aduriz laid the ball into his path 18 yards out and the marauding right-back hit a first time shot with the outside of his foot which arrowed into the far top corner of the net.

Sporting were almost handed a way back into the match though after 74 minutes when Laporte, booked early in the second half, was shown a second yellow card for what the referee perceived as a foul on Alen Halilovic. Television replays showed there was no contact.

Cuellar had to make a late block to deny Athletic a third as Sporting were left without a win in seven league games and remain second from bottom of the table.