Athletic - Elche C. F.: Guruzeta’s brace and a late penalty flip momentum as Athletic strings three league wins

The win over Elche shifts the landscape for Athletic: a late, decisive penalty and a second-half double from Gorka Guruzeta delivered a third consecutive league victory — the club’s first run of three straight since August — and pushes the team back into an upward trend. Athletic - Elche C. F. finished 2-1 after a match that combined controversial officiating, a retaken spot kick and a goalkeeper who swung between errors and big saves.

Momentum lift: Athletic - Elche C. F. and why the sequence matters now

This result is less about a single match and more about trajectory. Three straight league wins change internal expectations and external pressure: Athletic have regained the kind of momentum that feeds belief for a push at higher positions, while Elche’s run without a victory extends and deepens their precarious position. Here’s the part that matters… a striker finding consistent form twice in recent matches shifts selection questions and game plans for the coming fixtures.

• Guruzeta scored twice in the second half, including a late penalty that decided the game.
• André Silva converted a penalty for Elche after being forced to retake it due to a double touch.
• Athletic have now won three consecutive league matches — their first such streak since August.
• Elche are now eight matches without a victory and sit one point above the relegation zone at 16th place.
• Game management, set-piece execution and how teams deal with VAR-driven calls will be visible signals going forward.

What’s easy to miss is that this wasn’t a simple late winner: the match combined individual form, procedural drama and momentum swings that will shape talks about tactics and personnel for both sides.

Match details and the sequence that decided it

The decisive phase came in the second half. Guruzeta opened his account at San Mamés with a composed finish from a low cross delivered by Yuri Berchiche, and later sealed the result from the penalty spot at the 89th minute after a contentious decision. The penalty required VAR review of an incident involving Bigas and Laporte; the referee awarded the spot kick and issued a yellow to the defender.

Between Guruzeta’s goals, Elche had levelled from the penalty spot when André Silva converted — but only after the kick had to be retaken due to a double touch. That sequence produced an emotional roller-coaster: a comeback hope for Elche briefly restored, then extinguished by the late decision that handed Athletic the 2-1 victory.

Elche’s goalkeeper was a prominent figure in the match narrative, at times keeping his side alive with important saves while also being involved in the game’s earlier moments that invited criticism. The match finished with tensions on show off the pitch as well: the visiting coach protested the decisive call and exchanges occurred after the final whistle.

Guruzeta’s brace is not an isolated spike: it was his second multi-goal match in three games, following another two-goal performance earlier this month in a 4-2 win over Levante. That pattern suggests a striker entering a productive spell rather than a one-off hot streak.

Micro timeline:

• Earlier this month: Guruzeta scored a two-goal haul in a 4-2 victory over Levante.
• Tonight at San Mamés: Guruzeta scored twice — the winner from an 89th-minute penalty — to make it 2-1.
• After this match: Elche extend their winless run to eight matches and sit one point above relegation.

The real question now is how each club responds: Athletic must sustain the attacking form that produced multiple chances and two stoppage-period goals; Elche need to find a way out of a prolonged run without wins and address set-piece vulnerabilities that directly affected the scoreline. Signals to watch for confirmation of the next turn include repeated goal contributions from Guruzeta and whether Elche can end the eight-match drought in upcoming fixtures.

Editor’s aside: The bigger signal here is consistency — back-to-back multi-goal games from the same striker change match planning more than a single lucky night.