Ernesto Valverde enthused at the ‘great merit’ to Athletic Bilbao’s 2-1 win over Real Betis on Thursday evening.
The Basques missed the opportunity to move ahead when former Betis man Benat Etxebarria missed a second-half penalty, before the visitors went ahead minutes later through Jorge Molina.
However, goals from Oscar de Marcos and Mikel San Jose determined the scoreline in Athletic’s favour, much to their Coach’s satisfaction.
“Losing on Monday in Barcelona had left us going into this game with a bad taste,” reflected Valverde in reference to Week 5’s reverse at Espanyol.
“In the first half we dominated and should have taken advantage, we have pushed, missed the penalty, went 1-0 down and we have turned the score around.
“The team deserves great merit. In general, the team has been great, through many phases of play this has been the side that we all love.”
