Seville (Spain), Aug 18 (IANS) Levante got a brace from Jose Luis Morales to defeat Real Betis 3-0 in the 2018-2019 La Liga opener for both clubs.
Most of the 46,225 people in the stands at Seville's Benito Villamarin stadium had to have been disappointed in the performance of the hosts, who looked less than sharp in comparison with the well-organized visiting side on Friday, reports Efe.
Betis began aggressively and generated one of their few genuine chances of the night in the 6th minute, when Levante goalkeeper Oier Olazabal bobbled a shot by Junior Firpo and left the ball within reach of Loren Moron, whose back-heel effort was turned aside by a defender.
The home side dominated possession, but struggled to find gaps in the solid Levante defence.
Levante waited till the 38th minute to get their first opportunity and Roger Marti made it count, redirecting a great cross from Jason past Betis keeper Pau Lopez to make it 1-0 for the Valencia side.
Conceding a goal appeared to spur Betis, but neither Ryad Boudebouz nor Andres Guardado were able to exploit occasions to equalize before the break.
While Betis maintained their edge on possession in the second half, they appeared to run out of steam, inviting Levante to look for more chances on the counter.
As so often happens, the second Levante goal began with a great defensive play in their own end.
Seconds after Olazabal denied Betis's Loren, Morales took the ball nearly the length of the pitch, eluding several opponents on the way, and beat Lopez to put his team up 2-0.
Morales added a second goal in stoppage time to complete the 3-0 victory.
--IANS
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