Berenguers Stunner Secures Bilbao Victory Over Atletico in La Liga

A brilliant long range effort from Alex Berenguer clinched a narrow 1-0 triumph for Athletic Bilbao against Atletico Madrid in their La Liga clash on Saturday.

Under Diego Simeone Atletico sit fourth but endured a second straight loss putting them eight points adrift of frontrunners Barcelona who earlier dismantled Real Betis 5-3.

Atletico had gone 13 games without defeat until Barca overcame them midweek and the Basque outfit built on that at the vibrant San Mames arena.

Ernesto Valverdes Athletic in seventh place also lost to Real Madrid on Wednesday yet mounted a much improved display to see off the away side.

Athletic Bilbao have endured a tough opening to the campaign in La Liga and the Champions League though they held a slight advantage in the tightly contested affair until Berenguer struck his opening goal of the term in the 85th minute grabbing all three points for his squad.

Simeones outfit lacked injured talents Alex Baena Jose Gimenez and Marcos Llorente but could include Robin Le Normand among the substitutes following his recovery.

Athletic took a hit towards the end of the first half when central defender Aymeric Laporte limped off hurt to be substituted by Dani Vivian.

Atletico pressed harder at the start of the second period however the home team started to dominate proceedings.

Oihan Sancet of Athletic wasted a clear chance in the second half by firing wildly over the crossbar despite Unai Gomez being unmarked and ready to finish from an ideal spot.

Coming off the bench Alexanders Sorloth of Atletico almost edged his team in front with a header repelled by Unai Simon right before Berenguer wrapped up the contest.

Nico Williams squared the ball to the striker just outside the penalty area and he rifled a dipping shot past Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.