Aritz Aduriz hit a first-half double as Athletic Bilbao kept their Champions League ambitions on track with a 2-1 victory at Levante, who only came to life after the break.
Athletic are fourth on 59 points in Spain's final Champions League spot, six more than Sevilla who thumped Espanyol 4-1 over the weekend, and nine ahead of sixth-placed Real Sociedad, beaten 4-0 at home by Real Madrid on Saturday.
The Basque side responded well to their defeat by Atletico Madrid in their last match, starting the game at a high tempo and cutting the Levante defence open in the early stages.
A sloppy challenge from Juanfran on Iker Muniain earned Athletic a penalty which Mikel San Jose sent wide but the visitors were soon ahead anyway.
A shot from Aduriz from the edge of the area deflected off Levante defender Simao Mate, wrong-footing Keylor Navas, and went into the corner.
Published 08 April 2014, 20:22 IST