BARCELONA, Spain — A late goal gave Leganes a winning debut in the Spanish league with a 1-0 victory at Celta Vigo, while Las Palmas roared back for a 4-2 win at Valencia to complete the opening round of matches on Monday.
Leganes earned promotion to Spain’s top flight for the first time in the 88-year history of the Madrid club in June.
Leganes held its own with Celta throughout the match and took the lead when Victor Diaz volleyed in a headed pass in the 75th minute.
"You can’t ask for more," Diaz said. "A debut in the first division and a goal for me."
Celta, which finished the league in sixth place last season and reached the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, hadn’t lost in 12 matches at its Balaidos Stadium.
Marko Livaja scored a brace to help Las Palmas prevail at Mestalla Stadium.
Valencia striker Santi Mina netted his first of two goals with a powerful header, thump in from Dani Parejo’s corner in the sixth minute.
But Livaja levelled with a header 10 minutes later, and Jonathan Viera soon put the visitors in front from the penalty spot after Cancelo had fouled Dani Castellano.
"They scored very early, but we remained true to our playing style," Viera said. "This is huge boost to our confidence."
Former AC Milan player Kevin-Prince Boateng made it 3-1 to Las Palmas in the 31st with an almost identical strike to Livaja’s, sending his header just inside the far post of Mathew Ryan’s goal.
Mina added his second goal three minutes later, but Valencia would go no closer to the draw than Paco Alcacer’s long shot that hit the bar midway through the second half.
Livaja then finished Valencia off on the break with two minutes left to play.
The loss was a blow to a Valencia side hoping to put a disappointing 12th-place finish last season behind it.
"Clearly this is not what our fans expected," Mina said. "We have to correct our errors right now, because what happened last season can’t happen again."
