Granada recorded their first win of the new La Liga season on Sunday evening as they defeated Getafe 2-1 on the road.
A shocking first half from the hosts and a strong one by the visitors meant that Granada went in at the break with a two goal advantage. Youssef El-Arabi opened the scoring with 26 minutes played, earning a penalty before converting it, whilst Isaac Success extended his side's lead three minutes later.
Getafe were better after half time and earned themselves a glimmer of hope late on when susbtitute Angel Lafita fired home with 10 minutes to play, but the away side were able to see the game out, despite spending the closing minutes under sustained pressure.
Team news
Unsurprisingly, with both sides losing their opening games of the season last weekend, changes were made to both the teams that started for these clubs last time out.
For Getafe, three changes were made, one of them forced as Emiliano Velazquez replaced Santiago Vergini in defence after the on loan Sunderland man was sent off on his debut against Espanyol last week.
The other two alterations saw Alvaro Medran come in for Juan Rodriguez in the bank of two in midfield, whilst 18-year-old Emi replaced Pablo Sarabia in the attacking midfield role.
Granada, on the other hand, made five changes, another due to a red card as Cristiano Beraghi, on loan from Internazionale, replaced another loanee in Salva Ruiz - the Valencia man suspended.
This was just one of three changes to the back four, as Miguel Lopes came in for Dimitri Foulquier at right-back and captain Diego Mainz was dropped in favour of David Lomban.
On top of this, Rene Krhin replaced Robert Ibanez deep in midfield, whilst Nigerian teenager Success was chosen ahead of Piti for the number 10 role.
Granada race into two goal lead after quick fire start
A clash between two of last season's strugglers, this was expected to be a cagey game from the off, and that it was; mainly broken up by fouls and attacks falling apart due to poorly misplaced passes at crucial times.
However, Granada were the better side from the off, with them boasting a much livelier and sharper attack than their opponents - the likes of Success and El-Arabi in particular threatening early on; the former's low cross swept clear by goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, and the latter seeing a low, driven shot at goal saved comfortably.
Pedro Leon had the hosts' first chance, albeit just half of one as he was teed up from range to strike high and wide, yet it remained Granada on top as Ruben Rochina's flick at the near post was held by Guaita.
Nonetheless, the visitors' great start earned them a goal before the half hour mark as Velazquez hacked down El-Arabi in the box, having already nibbled away at his heels for a few seconds prior, and the striker dusted himself off to convert the spot-kick with real conviction - the net almost bursting as he powered the ball into the bottom corner.
There could be no complaints about the awarding of the penalty, though this didn't stop Getafe's disgruntled defence from surrounding the referee, and whilst they continued to moan, Granada got on with things and doubled their advantage just three minutes after gaining it.
Success was the scorer this time, beating Alexis far too easily on the right to open up plenty of space for him to shoot - Velazquez not even bothering to get across and cover after his teammate failed to stop the Nigerian. As a result, Success scuffed a shot straight at Guaita, but with the effort bobbling towards him, the stopper misjudged it and saw it completed evade his attempted catch, instead bouncing off his hands and into the back of the net.
The goalkeeper will be held responsible for the goal, but his defence did him few favours, the hosts' hitting the self-destruct button as Granada, in contrast, hit their stride.
Lead could have been halved or extended before half time
These two goals saw the game burst into the life, with many more opportunities occurring as a result.
Granada made the majority of these, with Javi Marquez creating one for himself as half time neared, bursting through the midfield with great energy only to see his fierce left-footed strike fly just a yard or so over the bar.
El-Arabi had a better chance to make it three though, Getafe's defence again creating their own problems as they allowed Andres Fernandez's goal-kick to fly over their heads, whilst Alexis failed to make himself aware of the presence of Granada's lone striker, who latched onto the long ball forward due to his opponent's poor positioning.
However, the defender made amends for his error, keeping up with the Moroccan and sliding in to block his eventual effort at the last moment.
Despite their nightmare first half performance, Getafe could have got on the scoresheet a minute before the break too. Leon's free-kick in from the right was cleared first time by Granada, but only as far as the unmarked Emi, who controlled the ball on the edge of the box before firing a half-volley towards the bottom right hand corner of Fernandez's goal, though it just swerved the wrong side of the post at the last second by an inch.
Still, this would have hardly been a deserved goal for the hosts, who went in at the break two goals down after a very sloppy 45 minutes.
Positive response from Getafe soon dwindles
After some choice words from the Getafe manager at the break, the team looked a lot sharper and brighter in the second half, immediately on the front foot and getting on the ball in the final third - albeit without creating any real clear-cut chances early on as their opponents defended well.
Granada themselves, against the run of play this time, nearly added a third inside the opening few minutes of the half when Rochina danced his way past three challenges in the area, but he did not release the ball at the right time, meaning he was eventually crowded out and the danger was cleared without any harm done.
However, a number of changes around the hour mark, and both side's inability to real string together any meaningful attacking build-up play, meant that Getafe couldn't capitalise on this decent spell as the game entered a period broken up by set pieces, which had lacked good deliveries throughout the match from both teams.
Last push by the hosts only brings about a consolation
It took Getafe until the 75th minute of the game to come close to registering their first goal of the evening, with Medran stinging the palms of Fernandez before the loose ball was recycled by Victor Rodriguez, whose cross in from the right could not be converted by substitute Lafita as he attempted to do so from just a few yards out, albeit on the stretch.
Rodriguez then came close himself a few minutes later, the ball breaking for him on the corner of the box to strike goalwards on the half volley, but his effort was straight at Fernandez who parried well.
The hosts earned themselves a free-kick in a good position from the loose ball, however, and, whilst the delivery was again poor, a poorly mistimed jump to head clear from Ruben Perez allowed Lafita to turn and strike the ball first time on the volley, which caught the goalkeeper by surprise as the low effort flew past him and into the back of the net to give Getafe a chance to get something from the game with 10 minutes to go.
Granada resisted well as their opponents applied the pressure, though Getafe came within inches of a stoppage time equaliser when the ball was headed back in across the face of goal following a free-kick, but Alvaro Vazquez couldn't make contact as he slid in to do so from six yards out.
The four added minutes were not enough for the hosts to rescue a point in the end, and instead Granada were able to get their first points on the board of the new season.