Athletic Bilbao defeated Villarreal 1-0 at San Mames in a La Liga match thanks to a goal from Inaki Williams. He scored his fifth goal in 12 games in the 59th minute after latching onto Raul Garcia’s feed that split the defence.
The 28-year-old Ghanaian started up front for Athletic Club and was a constant threat to Villarreal’s defense due to his blistering speed.
Inaki scored his fifth goal of the season and his second in the last three games to help Athletic Club snap a four-game winless streak that had begun on September 30.
The 28-year-old made his 352nd appearance for the Basque club in La Liga, extending his amazing consecutive La Liga appearances to 245 games.
After Sunday’s late game between Real Sociedad and Real Betis, Athletic Club moved up to the fifth position in the standings with 21 points, just two points behind third-place Atletico Madrid and one point behind fourth-place Real Betis.
Inaki’s record has been encouraging for Ghana coach Otto Addo heading into the World Cup, as three of his five goals have come in the last six matches.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Samuel Chukwueze started on the right flank of Villarreal’s attack but was eventually substituted by Yeremi Pino in the 64th minute after failing to make an impact.
Chukwueze was keen to get his first league goal after netting his third of the season against Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the Europa Conference League on Thursday but he had no impact after being well-contained by the Athletic defence.