Atletico Madrid made a bright start as Lee Kang-In showcased his excellent technique and close control, weaving his way through the defence before firing from inside the box. His effort, however, drifted narrowly wide of the left post.
But the Rojiblancos were fortunate to survive a dangerous spell as they struggled to deal with a couple of deflections around the edge of the box. Oihan Sancet pounced on a loose ball and fired towards the near post, but his effort found the side netting.
Soon after, Atletico were back on the offensive when Alex Baena picked up a pass in a promising position and tried his luck from mid-range, aiming for the roof of the net.
Unai Simon was alert to the attempt, though, making a comfortable save to deny him. Lee also threatened again, taking a neat pass and dummying a defender before slamming the ball well wide of the left post from the edge of the box.
Although Atlético might have felt comparatively more aggrieved to find themselves goalless at the break, there was nothing that could excuse their total meltdown early in the second half.
Firstly, the visitors’ defence failed to deal with an Inaki Williams curler that his brother, Nico Williams, headed in at close range.
And after the strike survived a VAR check for an out-of-play ball in the build-up, the elder Williams was at it again almost immediately, picking up a slick pass from his brother to play a through-ball into the box, where Robert Navarro curled into the far corner for his second goal of the season.
With Athletic having won six of their previous nine home meetings against Atletico before kick-off, the visitors were now experiencing a very familiar sinking feeling, and their play became distinctly flat compared to the first half.
That said, they could have halved the deficit on 70’, when Julian Alvarez found space to drive low towards the bottom-right corner, only for Unai Simón to tip the ball around the post with a reflex save.
Although there were some promising runs down Athletic’s left flank in the latter minutes, it was from the right that the third arrived in the final minute of normal time. A ball over the top found Benat Gerenabarrena, whose ball across the area was missed by two grey shirts and tapped in by Sancet.
With this victory, the hosts moved up to eighth place in resounding style, while putting a miserable Atlético team at risk of losing further ground on their traditional title rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Robert Navarro (Athletic Club)