Rayo Vallecano hold on to beat Levante

Rayo Vallecano survived a strong finish from Levante to beat their opponents 3-2 in La Liga this lunchtime.

The visitors looked sharp from the start, with Franco Vazquez and Alejandro Dominguez both testing Keylor Navas in the opening six minutes.

Piti opened the scoring in the 20th minute, smashing in the rebound from an Adrian free kick.

Vallecano continued to dominate throughout the first half, but they could not add to the score before the break.

The home side were stronger after the break, with Pedro Rios and Michel forcing saves from Ruben shortly after the restart.

Robert Acquafresca got Levante back on level terms in the 52nd minute, tapping in from a Ruben Garcia delivery, but Rayo were back in front just four minutes later through a Vazquez effort.

The away side were awarded a penalty when Dominguez was brought down by Garcia, which Piti calmly converted to give Vallecano a two-goal cushion.

Levante gave themselves some hope late on when Vincente Iborra headed in from close range in the 86th minute, but the hosts could not find another goal before the final whistle.