Madrid, Aug 16 (IANS) Deportivo Alaves kicked off the new La Liga season with a 3-0 home win over Getafe. Nahuel Tenaglia opened the scoring for Alaves in the 73rd minute with a powerful header after he arrived unmarked to meet an assist from substitute Mariano Diaz.
Mariano added a second with a scorching strike in the 91st minute and then provided the assist for debutant Mikel Rodriguez to round off the scoring.
Alaves took advantage of Getafe being reduced to 10 men shortly before halftime when Kiko Femenia was shown a straight red for a high studs-up challenge.
In the second game, Sevilla came back from a goal down to win 2-1 at home to Rayo Vallecano. Alvaro Garcia put Rayo ahead in the fourth minute of the game after a defensive error.
Early in the second half, Sevilla was awarded a penalty when Garcia caught Miguel Sierra as he ran through. Jon Guridi converted to make it 1-1.
The game looked set to finish level after Sevilla defender Kike Salas was sent off with two minutes remaining, but deep into stoppage time Sevilla was awarded a second penalty for a foul on new signing Robbie Ure and Peque Fernandez converted in the 97th minute to secure a 2-1 win.
The game was the 61st meeting between the two sides. Sevilla FC have now won 35 of those encounters, 13 have ended in draws and Rayo Vallecano have won 13.
This will be the third time Sevilla and Vallecano have faced each other on the opening day of La Liga, with all three meetings taking place in the 21st century. In the 2018-19 season, Pablo Machín’s side began their campaign with a 1-4 victory in Vallecas, with goals from Franco Vazquez, a debut-day brace from Andre Silva and a final strike from Luis Muriel.
In the 2021-22 season, the two sides once again met in the opening game of the league campaign, this time at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan. Another debutant, Erik Lamela, scored twice to seal a 3-0 victory in the second half after En-Nesyri had opened the scoring.
On Monday, Deportivo A Coruna returns to the top flight for the first time in eight years with a home game against Elche. Atletico Madrid will host Malaga on Wednesday.
–IANS
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