Athletic Bilbao 2 - Zaragoza 1

Bilbao: Lafuente; Javi González, Oscar Vales, Lacruz, Larrazábal (Carlos García 82'); Orbaiz, Alkiza; Joseba Etxeberria (Urrutia 61'), Tiko, Yeste (Ezquerro 61'); Urzaiz. 4-2-3-1.
Zaragoza: Juanmi; Rebosio, Aguado, Paco, Esquerdinha; Toro Acuña, José Ignacio (Chainho 46', Garitano 77'); Marcos Vales, Juanele (Galletti 72'), Vellisca; Yordi. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Bilbao: Larrazábal for Felipe / Zaragoza: Rebosio, Aguado for Pablo, Sundgren.

Goals:
1-0. 04. Urzaiz. Headed over keeper after long ball in from Yeste.
2-0. 60. Urzaiz. Controlled long pass from defence to round defenders and score.
2-1. 70. Yordi. Turned cross from Vellisca past keeper from close range.

Zaragoza manager Txetxu Rojo returned to his home town Bilbao looking for a win against the club who fired him last season. However his side were well beaten by an on-form Athletic who rise up to fourth in the table with their victory. The man who did the damage was striker Urzaiz, who moved to the top of the league's top scorers' chart with his seventh and eighth of the season only days after helping them through to the third round of the cup with a late goal. The old style centre forward struck early on, heading home Yeste's cross in the fourth minute to give his side a rare lead at home. Before the half time whistle, referee Ansuategui Roca had turned down four penalty appeals from the home side, the most blatant of which were fouls on Tiko and Urzaiz by Paco and Aguado respectively.

Bilbao didn't need the referee's help on this one though, and Urzaiz got his second goal in the second half, picking up a deep pass from Javi González to turn past two defenders and beat Juanmi with a low shot from the edge of the area. Zaragoza's best player Yordi pulled one back twenty minutes from time, but the Basque side held on comfortably to take the three points and move to within a point of leaders Alavés. Zaragoza drop to twelfth, and their manager was given a luke warm farewell by the local fans. Jupp Heynckes has proved the raw material was always there, it just needed the right man to do something with it. Rojo was not that man.