Athletic Club Vs Elche: Guruzeta’s late penalty secures 2-1 win at San Mamés

In the athletic club vs elche match at San Mamés, Gorka Guruzeta converted a penalty in the final moments to give Athletic a 2-1 victory, a result decided after a VAR review and a sequence of retaken spot-kicks.

Athletic Club Vs Elche — penalty drama decides late

The decisive moment came after the referee reviewed an incident between Pedro Bigas and Aymeric Laporte at the VAR monitor; the check produced a penalty and a yellow card for Bigas, and Gorka Guruzeta stepped up to convert and make it 2-1 in the closing stages. That finish followed an earlier exchange of spot-kicks: André Silva had to retake his penalty and scored on the second attempt to pull Elche level at 1-1 before Guruzeta’s late strike.

How the penalties and key saves unfolded

Matías Dituro was a central figure for Elche in the contest at San Mamés, producing several important saves, including a stop from Iñaki Williams that denied Williams what would have been a notable appearance milestone. André Silva’s first penalty deceived Unai Simón but was marred by a double touch or irregularity that forced a retake; on the second try Silva scored. Later, the VAR review of Bigas’s action on Laporte awarded Athletic a second penalty that Guruzeta calmly converted.

Lineups, referee and immediate consequences

Ernesto Valverde fielded a 4-5-1 for Athletic with Unai Simón in goal and Gorka Guruzeta leading the attack; Eder Sarabia lined up Elche in a 4-4-2 with Matías Dituro in goal and André Silva up front. Alejandro Hernández Hernández refereed the match at San Mamés. The win hands Athletic three points and pushes them deeper into the fight for European places, while Elche leave Bilbao empty-handed despite salvaging an equalizer from the spot earlier in the game.

For Athletic there was breathing room after a tight, tense match; for Elche, the evening ended in frustration despite a strong defensive showing from Dituro and a courageous approach under Eder Sarabia. The match counted for jornada 25 of LaLiga EA Sports and produced late drama that decided the standings impact immediately.

Next on the calendar, Athletic travel to Vallecas to face Rayo on 28 de febrero, and Elche return home to host Espanyol at the Martínez Valero on 1 de marzo.