Rakitic winner edges Barcelona past Athletic Bilbao

Ivan Rakitic's first-half header maintained Barcelona's 100 percent start to the La Liga season as the champions withstood a wave of late pressure to win 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday. Rakitic finished off an excellent team move after 20 minutes, but with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez uncharacteristically wayward in front of goal, Athletic nearly grabbed a point when Benat Etxebarria's free-kick flew just wide late on. Barca join Real Madrid and top of the table Las Palmas as the only sides wi