Europa League

Athletic Bilbao 5 - Partizan Belgrade 1

Athletic: Herrerín; Bóveda, Etxeita, Laporte, Balenziaga; San Jose, Beñat (Elustondo 73‘); Susaeta, Raúl García (Eraso 66‘), Williams (De Marcos 63’); Aduríz. 4-2-3-1.
Partizan: Kljajic; Vulicevic, Balazic (Cirkovic 26‘), Fabricio Carioca, Subic; Grbic, Babovic, Lukic, Jevtovic, Stevanovic (Ninkovic 73‘), Oumaru (Saponjic 46’). 4-5-1.

Goals:
1-0. 15. Williams. Ran on to headed Bóveda pass and fired shot inside far post.
1-1. 17. Oumaru. Picked up pass outside area and ran on to shoot past Herrerín.
2-1. 19. Williams. Turned shot past Kljajic after Aduríz laid ball across from left.
3-1. 40. Beñat. Steered free kick past the defensive wall and wide of keeper.
4-1. 71. Aduríz. Looped header into far top corner of net from long Beñat free kick.
5-1. 81. Elustondo. Rolled ball into net after Aduríz played across Eraso pass.

Athletic Bilbao cruised to a 5-1 victory over Partizan Belgrade on Thursday evening, and they ended the day at the top of their group, three points clear of their opponents. Iñaki Williams kept up his recent good for with the opening two goals, the first on the quarter hour mark after running on to a headed pass by Bóveda. Oumaru levelled it temporarily for the Serbs a couple of minutes later after picking up the ball in an offside position, but just two minutes after that Williams turned a second past Kljajic after Beñat and Aduríz combined to set him up. With five minutes to go to the break Beñat made it three with a free kick which found a gap in the defensive wall, and with twenty minutes to go Aduríz headed the fourth from another Beñat free kick, the striker’s 100 th goal in an Athletic shirt. Ten minutes later Elustondo wrapped things up following a quick team passing move, and Aduríz could have added a sixth had Kljajic not saved his header near the end.