BARCELONA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Raphinha and Fermin Lopez scored as Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at the Camp Nou on Thursday in their first home match of the LaLiga season.
Barcelona dominated from kickoff and went ahead in the 38th minute when Pedri split the Athletic defence with a through ball, allowing Raphinha to round goalkeeper Unai Simon and tap into an empty net.
Lamine Yamal struck the crossbar from the edge of the box eight minutes into the second half, while Simon made seven saves as Athletic struggled to contain the hosts.
Fermin doubled the lead in the 82nd minute after Aymeric Laporte failed to clear substitute Karim Adeyemi's low cross, leaving the midfielder to control and score. Barcelona joined Real Madrid, Real Betis and Sevilla on six points from two matches, while Athletic and Real Sociedad remained bottom without a point.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas in MadridEditing by Toby Davis)
