Pressure eased on Emery

Sevilla eased the pressure on coach Unai Emery with a 4-1 victory over nine-man Rayo Vallecano.

Sevilla eased the pressure on coach Unai Emery with a 4-1 victory over nine-man Rayo Vallecano that lifts them off the foot of the Primera Division standings. Ivan Rakitic's 17th-minute penalty put the hosts ahead and the Croatia international doubled Sevilla's advantage eight minutes into the second half as the Andalusian side chased a first league win of the season. Rayo pulled a goal back two minutes later through Adrian Gonzalez but their hopes of getting on terms suffered a major setback in the 66th minute when they lost Alejandro Galvez to a second yellow card. There was no way back for the visitors after that and Sevilla wrapped up the points with two goals from substitute Carlos Bacca in the final nine minutes, the second of which came against nine men after Rayo had seen Jonathan Viera shown a straight red card. Sevilla president Jose Maria Del Nido had given Emery a vote of confidence on the eve of the match, but the former Valencia manager would still have been hugely relieved to see Rakitic put his side ahead - the first time they have led in La Liga this season. The home side had already gone close through Jairo Samperio's effort in the ninth minute when Rakitic sent the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot following Anaitz Arbilla's foul on Kevin Gameiro. Boosted by that goal Sevilla went in search of a second and it arrived just after half-time when Rakitic fired home a 25-yard free-kick. That advantage was halved soon after as Adrian headed home Viera's cross but Galvez's dismissal 10 minutes later for a foul on Gameiro prevented the visitors from building up any head of steam. After that it was largely all Sevilla, with Gameiro and Stephane Mbia trying their luck before Bacca, who had replaced Marko Marin in the 70th minute, made it 3-1 10 minutes after his introduction with a close-range finish from Gameiro's pass. Barely 60 seconds after that Rayo were seeing red again as Viera was handed his marching orders for his challenge on Mbia, and it was no surprise to then see Sevilla add a fourth goal through Bacca, who turned the ball home after Gameiro's shot had hit the crossbar.