EIBAR, Spain (Reuters) - La Liga debutants Huesca announced their arrival in the Spanish top flight in style by grabbing a 2-1 win away to Eibar on Sunday in their first game of the season, powered by two impressive strikes from midfielder Alex Gallar.
Gallar danced his way past three defenders before sticking the ball through the legs of Eibar goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic to score Huesca’s first ever goal in La Liga in the fifth minute of a match between the two smallest clubs in the league.
Gallar followed that spectacular goal by unintentionally hitting their second from a long-range free kick in the 40th as his attempted cross went beyond its intended target and flew straight into the net, catching Dmitrovic by surprise.
Argentine midfielder Gonzalo Escalante converted a low cross midway through the second half to pull back a goal for Eibar, who are in their fifth consecutive season in Spain’s top flight despite coming from a town with a population of 27,000.
Huesca, from the north-eastern city of the same name with little more than 50,000 inhabitants, finished top of Spain’s second tier last season. They had to withstand some frantic late attacks from Eibar but held on to claim a historic victory which took them joint top of the standings on the opening weekend.
Rayo Vallecano were in action against Sevilla later on Sunday while Real Madrid were hosting Getafe.
Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Clare Fallon