Ten-man Sevilla snatches late win over Vallecano
Sevilla scored from two second-half penalties as it came roaring back from a goal down to beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 at home in their first match of the new LaLiga season.
In a hotly contested late kick-off, a dreadful defensive error by Arouna Sangante allowed Alvaro Garcia to open the scoring for Vallecano in the fourth minute.
The first half was held up by a number of lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) reviews, with Vallecano keeper Augusto Batalla breathing a sigh of relief when a penalty awarded against him for tangling with Sevilla forward Isaac Romero in the box was overturned.
The visitors had no such luck early in the second half when goalscorer Garcia felled Miguel Sierra in the box in the 50th minute, and Jin Guridi slammed home the subsequent spot-kick to level for the home side.
Sevilla's Kike Salas was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge in the 88th minute, and the game looked to be headed for a draw until Florian Lejeune hacked down substitute Robbie Ure in the box to concede a second penalty deep into stoppage-time.
After replays appeared to show there had been no contact on the attacking player, VAR checked the incident but allowed the penalty to stand, with Gerard Fernandez stepping up to score it and snatch all three points for Sevilla in the 97th minute.
