Form is temporary, so are injuries. But class, oh man, class is permanent. And Radamel Falcao has got bags of it. The veteran Colombian made headlines when he signed for La Liga new boys Rayo Vallecano and he made an instant impact for the small and proud Madrid club. Rayo piled more misery on Getafe, who slumped to their fifth consecutive defeat and made life ever so difficult for themselves. 🆕 71′ Debut⚽ 82′ GOAL! 🐯 @FALCAO makes Vallecas ROAR! #RayoGetafe | #LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/P5OLU0mg4L— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) September 18, 2021 Rayo wear a red thunderbolt on their shirts in place of a traditional diagonal stripe and they also had a thunderous finisher in their attack with the addition of the 35-year-old striker Falcao.Argentinean forward Oscar Trejo opened the scoring from the penalty spot inside the first ten minutes and made the visitors wish they didn’t even make the short trip to the neighbourhood of Vallekas.Working-class team from a poor neighbourhood comes again to torment the richFormer Manchester United winger Bebe was instrumental in Rayo’s attacks as the Bees looked to build on their early lead, but they had to wait until late in the game. Argentine-born Montenegro international Esteban Saveljich thought he’d made it 2-0 ten minutes after the break, but his strike was denied after a VAR check. The Vallekas crows went wild twenty minutes before time when their long-awaited new recruit Falcao stepped off the bench and onto the pitch to make his debut. And he made an instant impact. The former Chelsea and Manchester United star forced a corner kick from which Rayo defender Pathe Ciss doubled the lead just a few minutes later with a fine header to push Getafe closer to the brink of defeat.35-year-old Radamel Falcao scores on his debut for Rayo Vallecano!El Tigre is back 🐯 pic.twitter.com/4Rkf3qJDut— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 18, 2021 And then – the inevitable came. Falcao made sure his debut is well-remembered among the red and whites when he hit a lovely finish from just inside the area to make it 3-0 and send the home faithful to dreamland.Getafe’s miserable day ended in a missed penalty as Rayo goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski kept an Enes Unal late penalty kick out.This was Rayo’s second win in the last three games, while Getafe will have to improve their form considerably to lift themself off the root of La Liga standings.LA LIGA – Round 5FridayCelta Vigo – Cadiz 1-2 (0-2)/Mina 64 – Lozano 38, Espino 43/SaturdayRayo Vallecano – Getafe 3-0 (1-0)/Trejo 9 pen, Ciss 78, Falcao 81/Atletico Madrid – Athletic Club19.30: (2.55) Elche (3.00) Levante (3.30)22.00: (3.10) Alaves (3.00) Osasuna (2.70)Sunday15.00: (3.50) Mallorca (3.15) Villareal (2.35)17.15: (2.70) Sociedad (3.10) Sevilla (3.00)19.30: (2.05) Betis (3.50) Espanyol (3.90)22.00: (4.00) Valencia (3.60) Real Madrid (2.00)Monday 22.00: (1.30) Barcelona (6.25) Granada (10.0)***odds are subject to change
