Aug ⁠16 (Reuters) - Espanyol striker Roberto Fernandez netted two first-half ⁠goals as his side cruised to a comfortable ‌3-0 home win over Levante on Sunday as the opening weekend of Spain's LaLiga continued.

The 24-year-old bundled the ball over the line ​in the fifth minute after the ⁠visitors failed to clear ⁠a free kick and doubled the advantage with another ⁠poacher's ‌finish from a Javier Hernandez pass five minutes before the break.

While the visitors failed to ⁠get a shot on target, Espanyol winger ​Tyrhys Dolan saved ‌his team's best for last, drifting across the ⁠box and ​lashing a shot back across the face of goal and in at the far post after 80 minutes to ⁠complete the rout.

In the evening's early ​kick-off, Racing Santander threw away a two-goal lead as they were held to a 2-2 draw by visitors Villarreal, ⁠with all four goals coming in the first half.

With eight of the league's 20 teams having kicked off their campaigns over the weekend, Espanyol, Deportivo Alaves and ​Sevilla are the early pacesetters ⁠on three points.

JoseMourinho's Real Madrid visit Espanyol in their first ​LaLiga game of the season ‌next Saturday, while reigning champions ​Barcelona join the fray a day later at Elche.

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)