With one point on the board between them before tonight, both teams made seven changes to their starting lineups in the hope of quickly improving their fortunes.
It was the new-look Celta who created the first real chance when Ferran Jutgla chased a ball over the top and squared to Williot Swedberg, but he planted his effort straight at Unai Simon.
At the other end, Oihan Sancet tested Ionut Radu with a pair of strikes in quick succession and Aymeric Laporte sent a header inches over the crossbar, but those warning signs weren’t heeded by the hosts, as Athletic went ahead in the 20th minute.
Alex Berenguer dribbled into the area, opened up his body and curled the ball beyond the goalkeeper for his first goal since December.
Within 10 seconds of the hosts kicking off, Athletic were putting them under pressure again and winning the ball back high up the pitch.
That allowed Inaki Williams to square to Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta, who played a delightful through ball which Robert Navarro collected and steered into the bottom corner for 2-0.
As the first half reached its final 10 minutes, a Radu save to deny Williams prevented the night getting worse for the hosts before it very nearly got better, but Jutgla’s header from a corner struck the top of the bar, resigning Celta to a two-goal deficit at half-time.
Claudio Giraldez made four substitutions at the break to spark a reaction from his side, but despite plenty of endeavour from Celta, it was the Lions who had the half’s first opportunity, as a flowing move ended with Sancet failing to keep his shot down.
Just before the hour mark, Carl Starfelt got free at the near post at a corner and sent his header narrowly wide, but that was a rare chance for the home side.
The final 10 minutes began with Nico Williams curling an effort just over the top corner as he looked to ice the Athletic cake, before the substitute had a penalty claim waved away and dragged a golden chance wide.
The Basque side needed no more goals though, and avoided going winless in their opening three LaLiga matches for the first time since 2011, and kept just a second clean sheet in 31 league games.
Celta, meanwhile, shouldn’t be too phased by their poor start, as they finished sixth last season despite winning none of their first nine.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ionut Radu (Celta Vigo)
Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore.
