Javi Guerra the hero as Rayo Vallecano open account at Las Palmas

Javi Guerra scored the only goal of the game as Rayo Vallecano opened their account in the Primera Division at the fourth time of asking with a narrow 1-0 win at Las Palmas tonight.

A cagey encounter almost burst to life on 17 minutes when Adri Embarba headed narrowly over the bar, but the hosts took that as a warning and began to dominate.

First, Jonathan Viera blazed just over at the other end, before the Las Palmas hitman went close again with eight minutes left in the half - a miss that would prove costly.

With the first half drawing to a close, Guerra lifted the ball over the hosts' goalkeeper Raul to give Vallecano a slender lead against the run of play.

After the break, newly-promoted Las Palmas, searching for a first win themselves, stepped up their pursuit of a maiden victory and David Simon drilled narrowly wide of the post.

However, it proved a false dawn as Rayo never looked overly bothered and held on for their opening win of the campaign.