Aug 15 (Reuters) - Sevilla scored from two second-half penalties as they came roaring back from a goal down to beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 at home and Alaves hammered 10-man Getafe 3-0 as Spain's LaLiga got under way on Saturday evening.
In a hotly contested late kick-off, a dreadful defensive error by Arouna Sanganteallowed Alvaro Garcia to open the scoring for Vallecano in the fourth minute.
The first half was held up by a number of lengthy 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.
They had no such luck early in the second half when goal-scorer 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'sKike 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 in stoppage time, with Gerard Fernandez scoring to snatch all three points for Sevilla.
In the evening's early kick-off, Deportivo Alaves got their season off to a flying start with two late goals in a 3-0 win overGetafe, who had Kiko Femenia sent off for a dangerous challenge in the 42nd minute.
Alaves struggled to make their one-man advantage count until Mariano Diaz came off the bench and set up FacundoTenaglia to score in the 73rd minute.
Diaz then scored himself with a superb finish in the second minute of stoppage time at the end of the game before grabbing his second assist of the night for Mikel Rodriguez's 94th-minute goal.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor in London; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
