Aduriz stars as Athletic Bilbao crush Granada

Aritz Aduriz scored a magnificent hat-trick as Athletic Bilbao cemented their grip on fourth place with a 4-0 hammering of Granada.

The former Valencia striker headed his side in front after just seven minutes, glancing Andoni Iraola’s cross past Roberto.

He doubled his tally 11 minutes later, smashing an unstoppable drive in off the post after a speedy counter attack. Roberto had no chance.

The Basques were rampant, threatening to score with every attack, although Granada were unfortunate when Youssef El-Arabi was called offside late in the first half.

The second period was initially more even, with both sides going close. But any hopes of a comeback were put to bed when defender Diego Mainz was dismissed for a foul on Aduriz, with the resultant penalty duly converted to complete the hat-trick.

Carlos Gurpegi added a late fourth after some poor goalkeeping from Roberto, and they could have had more but for a bad miss by Oscar de Marcos.

Athletic Club move on to 50 points, seven clear of fifth placed Villarreal but 10 behind Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in joint second.