He was on target again midway through the first half as Sevilla dominated. Malaga's expensive new signings failed to have an impact on the game until Santi Cazorla scored ten minutes from time but it was only to be a consolation.
Earlier, an unfamiliar Real Mallorca side scraped a 1-0 win over Espanyol thanks to a deflected Jonathan De Guzman goal.
There were five new faces in the Mallorca starting line-up and it was one of those, Alejandro Alfaro, who had the side's best chance of the first half in the opening minute.
Espanyol grew as the game went on and after the break youngster Alvaro Vazquez hit the post and saw another effort well saved.
The visitor's lack of strength in attack proved crucial as a messy goal from De Guzman, which hit a defender and wrong-footed the goalkeeper, decided the encounter.
"This was a typical game for the start of the season and we won it through a bit of luck," admitted Mallorca coach Michael Laudrup.
"We played well in the first half considering that we had so many new players in the starting line-up. We lacked a bit of rhythm but it is fantastic to have picked up three points."
Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino was disappointed and accepted that the loss of players like Pablo Osvaldo and Jose Callejon had made a difference to the team.
PTI