Eibar succumb to Huesca defeat in curtain-raiser to fifth top-flight campaign
The Armeros were beaten 2-1 at Ipurua in a game in which they failed to perform
Eibar didn't manage to open their fifth season in the top tier as they had hoped, as the hosts slipped to a 2-1 defeat against newly promoted SD Huesca. The Armeros were caught out by the visitors in the opening exchanges, when, with just five minutes on the clock, Álex Gallar put Huesca in front, firing the ball under Marko Dmitrović after a mazy run that saw him glide past the Armeros backline all too easily.
Despite being behind, Eibar went in search of an equaliser and had several chances to draw themselves level, but the hosts lacked a cutting edge when they closed in on Axel Werner's goal. As the game edged towards the half-time interval, that man Gallar struck his second of the afternoon, with his 40th-minute free-kick evading everyone and nestling into the far corner of Dmitrović's net.
José Luis Mendilibar replaced Kike García with Charles at the break, before introducing Gonzalo Escalante in the 56th minute. Eibar sought to engineer a way back into the game and with 69 minutes played, Escalante halved the deficit when he turned Rubén Peña's inviting cross past Werner. The hosts went all out for an equaliser but no further goals were ultimately forthcoming.