Athletic Bilbao returned to winning ways in emphatic style with a dominant 4-0 victory over Getafe in Matchday 10 of La Liga. The two sides were level on points heading into the clash, but the Basques left no doubt about their superiority, scoring twice in each half to seal a comprehensive win, with three of the goals stemming from set pieces.
The result brought an end to Athletic Bilbao's four-match winless streak, lifting them to eighth place on 12 points. Meanwhile, Getafe suffered another heavy blow following their midweek 5-2 defeat to Lugano in the Conference League, leaving them languishing just above the relegation zone on nine points after three losses in their last five outings.
The hosts set the tempo early on and came close to opening the scoring in the 10th minute through a fine solo effort from Nico Williams, who fired narrowly wide. Athletic's early pressure paid off seven minutes later when Alex Berenguer delivered a teasing free-kick that Getafe goalkeeper David Soria failed to deal with, the ball deflecting off a defender and into the net. Berenguer dedicated his opener to teammate Gorka Guruzeta, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a severe injury.
Athletic doubled their advantage in the 36th minute courtesy of a sweeping counter-attack. Berenguer turned provider, releasing captain Iñaki Williams with a precise through ball, and the forward made no mistake, calmly slotting past Soria when through on goal to make it 2-0.
Any hopes of a Getafe comeback were extinguished in the 70th minute when Aitor Paredes contested a corner and Getafe defender Jean-Yves Valou inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net. The visitors' evening went from bad to worse in the 86th minute as Mario Martin received a straight red card for a reckless challenge. Just two minutes later, left-back Yuri Berchiche capped off the rout by curling home a fine direct free-kick to wrap up a resounding 4-0 triumph.