La Liga: Levante mark return with a win over rivals Villarreal, Eibar see off Malaga

Valencia: Levante celebrated being back in Spanish top-flight football with a narrow 1-0 victory against regional rivals Villarreal. The hosts on Monday stuck largely to the same line-up that secured promotion to La Liga, while injury-plagued Villarreal saw their tactics dictated by who was available, reports Efe. [caption id=“attachment_3961333” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Jose Morales scores from the penalty spot to earn Levante a victory on team’s return to top flight football in Spain. Image Courtesy: Twitter @LevanteUD[/caption] After spending the early stages penned up in their own end, Villarreal threatened when Antonio Rukavina released newly signed striker Carlos Bacca with a deep ball, though the ensuing shot deflected harmlessly off a Levante defender. The second half featured plenty of offensive action, but little in the way of real chances until the 80th minute, when Morales was again thwarted by Fernandez. Levante continued to press, however, and a desperate Rukavina brought down Morales in the area with two minutes left in regulation. Morales stepped to the line and converted to give his side the win. In Monday’s other La Liga contest, Malaga fell 0-1 at home to Eibar and to make matters worse for the crowd of 28,000 at La Rosaleda, the goal scorer was Charles, who racked up 15 goals in 56 appearances during his 2015-2017 tenure with the home team. The visitors were dominant from the start of the second half and took a 1-0 lead in the 57th minute with Charles’ header. Malaga showed more ambition from that point on, yet the payoff never materialised.