Deportivo La Coruna travelled home from the Benito Villamarin victorious on Thursday night, beating Real Betis 2-1 for their second win of the new La Liga season.
After an evenly fought first half, which Betis dominated in terms of possession but Depor had looked the more dangerous in, Fede Cartabia broke the deadlock less than 10 minutes into the second period, his 30-yard effort putting the visitors a goal up after a good start to the half.
However, Betis got themselves back on level terms within five minutes of conceding, Petros the scorer as the away side's defence simply opened up in front of him, allowing the striker to find the bottom corner with ease inside the area.
Despite them gathering momentum from this equaliser, Betis would fall behind again in the game though with just less than 20 minutes remaining, Faycal Fajr the scorer of another sublime goal, this one a volley that concluded a swift counter attacking move from the visitors.
Betis created enough to grab a point, and perhaps even win the game, but they were unable to take their chances as Depor held on for the win.
Team news
Neither side came into this game off the back of a win, and therefore the amount of changes to their last starting teams made was perhaps not a surprise.
Betis made four alterations in total, replacing both their central midfielders after the weekend's goalless draw with Valencia. Dani Ceballos and the injured Alfred N'Diaye came out of the team for Petros and Xavi Torres, whilst there was also a change at right-back as Francisco Molinero was replaced by Cristiano Piccini.
The big news, bar N'Diaye's injury, however, was that of Rafael van der Vaart's inclusion, the Dutchman making his debut for the club after his summer switch from Hamburger SV, having got injured in pre-season. All eyes would be on him, and whether he can prove himself again in La Liga, after some disappointing recent years.
Deportivo also made four changes to their last team - a team which lost 3-2 to newly-promoted Sporting Gijon. They kept the same back four and goalkeeper, despite conceding three times in that defeat, however, making the changes to their midfield and attacking line.
In the 4-2-3-1 set-up, Juan Dominguez replaced Celso Borges in a defensive midfield position, whilst the attacking three ahead of him saw two changes, with Fede coming in on the right for Juanfran as Luisinho replaced Luis Alberto on the left.
Depor also opted to change their lone striker, with Jonathan Rodriguez leading the line on Thursday night, as opposed to Lucas Perez.
Strong start by the hosts leads to little as Depor grow into game
With a real buzz around the stadium, Betis got off to a great start and could have been ahead with less than five minutes on the clock as the visiting goalkeeper, German Lux, produced a poor clearance that landed right at the feet of Ruben Castro - the hosts' striker being the only player to start the match who has found the back of the net this season.
Castro burst through on goal but, as he was about to pull the trigger, Alejandro Arribas gave him a timely shove in the back, sending the striker off balance and resulting in him prodding his shot wide as he tumbled to the ground - albeit the referee waved away very strong, early appeals for a penalty.
Depor struggled to get on the ball in the opening stages, with Betis dictating play, but they did pose a threat on the counter as Laure burst down the right just short of the 20 minute mark and tried to pick out Juan Dominguez in the box, yet the hosts defended well to deal with the danger.
Despite Betis dominating though, they hardly created much, and they would rue this as their opponents began to really get into the game and make it into more of an even contest towards the end of the half.
Instead, their play became more slow and lethargic and Depor started to look the more likely to score as a result, with them using their pace to try and exploit the hosts on the counter - Laure in particular growing to become an exciting figure in the match who looked able to provide something.
Fede, however, was the player who came within inches of breaking the deadlock, the Valencia loanee hitting the foot of the post with a curling left-footed effort from 25 yards, the break just three minutes away as he did so.
This was the final action of an even and well-fought half, that the visitors had perhaps edged, despite their opponents starting much better.
Contrasting nightmare start to second half by Betis
Remarkably, four minutes after half time, van der Vaart's Betis debut was over as the hosts suffered a huge setback.
The Dutchman had been impressive in the first half, particularly with his deliveries from set plays, however, a self-inflicted blow resulted in him being withdrawn before the 50 minute mark, with him colliding with teammate Castro and doing damage to his knee in the process.
Ceballos replaced him, with Depor, just to rub salt in their opponents' wounds, taking the lead in the game less than five minutes later through Fede's incredible strike.
The visitors had started the second half better, with Luisinho threatening to convert Laure's deep cross and Pedro Mosquera firing over the bar just before, and they had deserved the lead, having executed their game plan much better so far in the match, whilst Betis had failed to take advantage of their heavy amount of possession.
As well as this, the 30-yard effort from the 22-year-old was worthy of breaking the deadlock in any game, his shot cannoning in off the underside of the bar, albeit with no-one around closing him down.
Hosts respond perfectly
However, Betis could not have replied in much better fashion, with Fede this time at fault as his strange pass put his defence under unnecessary pressure, resulting in them conceding a throw deep in their own half.
From this, the hosts quickly put together their most promising attacking move of the evening yet, with Ceballos at the heart of it, eventually teeing up Petros to clinically drive the ball into the bottom corner of Lux's goal after the Depor defence had simply opened up to allow him to do so.
This really sparked the team into life, with them putting the pressure back on the away side, just as had been seen early on in the first half. Still, the game was suddenly much more open, with each side looking to attack and leaving gaps at the back as a result, which made for some exciting, end-to-end stuff, though with Betis back on top.
Quality keeps on coming from Depor, but they ride their luck for three points
Against the run of play, however, Depor would regain the lead with less than 20 minutes remaining with a goal just as special as, albeit much different to, Fede's stunner.
A looping cross from Fernando Navarro on the left started the swift counter attack, the ball finding substitute Borges at the far post who showed marvellous awareness to nod it back to Fajr, the Moroccan arriving on the edge of the box to put his team back in the lead with a low, driven volley - one which perfectly concluded a swift and clinical break.
Betis really should have equalised not long after though, with them creating some great chances as they searched for a way to get back on level terms.
Petros, the goal-scorer, was the first recipient of one of these opportunities, just over 60 seconds after Fajr had bagged the game's third goal too. He definitely should have scored as well, Joaquin teeing him up in the area for a clear sight on goal, but the striker simply couldn't hit the target - if he had have done, then it would have been 2-2, undoubtedly.
Yet, he wasn't the only guilty party, substitute Ricky van Wolfswinkel next up to squander a good chance as he mis-hit an attempted first time strike from Vincenzo Rennella's low cross, the ball kindly trickling into the grateful arms of Lux in the away goal.
The visitors held on rather comfortably in the end, despite a difficult four added minutes, with Betis left ruing missed opportunities earlier in the game as they struggled to carve out any late on.
Depor, however, climb into the top seven after this superb away performance, with them clinical and able to take their chances, unlike their opponents.