LaLiga Santander First-ever LaLiga goal for Balenziaga lifts Bilbao to third

Waiting 161 LaLiga games to bust his goalscoring cherry, Mikel Balenziaga chose an opportune moment to bag for Athletic Club and earned three points for his side with a scorching strike.

Answering Samir Nasri's equaliser that arrived against the run of play, the Basque side claimed a 3-1 win thanks to Mikel San Jose and Artiz Aduriz each hitting the net in either half.

Athletic started brightly and arguably should have led through Inaki Williams, although it took until the 26th minute for the hosts to lead a much-changed Sevilla side, deploying a smart corner which San Jose stabbed home at the second attempt.

Barely within a sniff of the goal for much of the game, the Andalusians managed to draw level with a delicately crafted move that had Los Leones completely done for. Pablo Sarabia provided the final pass, which was parried by the goalkeeper into Nasri's path for a smart volley home.

That was the Frenchman's first goal for Sevilla, but his dry-spell couldn't get close to Balenziaga's, who won the ball, weaved around his defender, and drilled a fantastic shot past Salvatore Sirigu.

Whilst the visitors were able to manufacture chances from nowhere, the game was up thanks to Sirigu's foolish elbow on Aduriz with just minutes left on the clock, giving away not just a penalty but his participation in the game.

Brushing himself down, the veteran attacker rolled the ball past makeshift keeper Vicente Iborra, as the red card came with no substitutes left, to send the Bilbao outfit into third.