La Liga: Villarreal fight back to beat Rayo, Almeria win

Villarreal roared back from a two-goal deficit to rout Rayo Vallecano 4-2 in the Spanish league on Sunday.

Also, Almeria hung on for a wild 2-1 win at Real Sociedad to claim its first victory of the season after having both a player and its coach sent off.

Rayo looked set to romp after Gael Kakuta and Alberto Bueno scored goals in the 22nd and 29th minutes at El Madrigal Stadium.

But Javier Espinosa sparked the comeback in the 33rd when he finished off Denis Cheryshev's shot that had been parried by goalkeeper Cristian Alvarez.

Villarreal dominated from there, with Ikechuwku Uche hitting the post three minutes later and testing Alvarez with a header that the goalie did well to push over his bar.

Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio headed in the resulting corner kick to level in the 63rd.

Substitute forward Luciano Vietto then scored twice in the 74th and the 87th from identical counterattacks started by Jonathan Dos Santos, with the ball flowing through Cheryshev on the left flank.

Unlike Rayo, Almeria was able to cling to its lead on the road.

Ahead 2-0, Almeria defender Sebastian Dubarbier received his second yellow card in the 79th and coach Francisco Rodriguez was ejected for protesting after Sociedad's Chory Castro pulled a goal back in the 85th.

Ruben Pardo then almost salvaged a draw for Sociedad with a free kick off the post in the 89th.

Almeria got its first goal in the 30th when Sociedad goalkeeper Enaut Zubikarai swatted the ball off the face of teammate Alberto de la Bella and into the net.

Almeria's Tomer Hemed sent the ball off the bar before defender Mauro Dos Santos headed in the visitors' second in the 51st.

Sociedad hit the goalframe three times. Carlos Vela curled the ball off the bar in the fifth and Markel Bergara headed a free kick onto the bar in the 53rd before Pardo's late try.

Besides the woodwork, Almeria was also helped by Ruben Martinez's goalkeeping. Martinez made three one-handed saves to deny De la Bella, Imanol Agirretxe and Vela in the first half.

Later, Barcelona visits Levante seeking a fourth win in as many rounds to remain leader, while Sevilla plays at Cordoba.