Real Betis moved off the bottom of the Primera Liga with a fine win at home to Real Mallorca on Sunday.
Three consecutive defeats had seen the Andalusians drop to the bottom of the table and the club were without a win all season before this encounter.
Coach Francisco Chaparro was under pressure and claimed his side were obliged to beat Mallorca.
And they got off to the perfect start as Damia gave the hosts the lead in the very first minute.
Lone striker Mariano Pavone added a second shortly before half-time and Achille Emana struck a third late on to wrap up a much-needed win for Betis.
The Andalusians had felt hard done by in their previous three matches, losing out by a single goal against Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villarreal.
Betis had fallen to late goals in each of those games, but were determined to put things right against Mallorca.
They got off to the best possible start when Damia latched onto a fine pass from Mehmet Aurelio and swept the ball past a hesitant Miguel Angel Moya to give the home fans an early cheer.
And Betis almost went two up just minutes later, but this time Moya got down well to push Emana's shot behind after the Cameroon midfielder was released by Sergio Garcia.
Garcia, returning to the side from suspension, was involved in much of Betis' best play early on.
The former Real Zaragoza forward set up Emana again after 19 minutes, but the African's shot this time lacked power and Moya saved comfortably.
Juanito then missed another good chance for Betis a minute later as the home side continued to dominate proceedings.
Mallorca looked well below their best, but almost got back into the game after 23 minutes, when Fernando Varela's shot deflected off Fernando Vega and almost fooled Betis keeper Casto Espinosa.
But Betis remained on top and came close again on the half-hour mark, when Pavone saw his shot blocked by David Navarro.
The home side got due reward for their sustained pressure just before half-time, when the excellent Emana charged into the area and squared for the unmarked Pavone, who slid the ball home with ease.
The home side were applauded off the pitch at the interval by their long-suffering fans.
And they continued to look the better team after the break.
After Casto had easily saved Navarro's header, Betis almost went three up just minutes after the restart, but Garcia blasted over the bar from close-range.
Moya then denied Betis what seemed a certain third goal with a fine reaction save from Damia, but Mallorca just did not look like scoring.
Alhassane Keita should have pulled one back for the islanders, but failed to make contact with a header from close-range after 76 minutes.
And Betis wrapped up a deserved victory seven minutes from time, when Emana turned in Garcia's intelligent pass to round off a much-needed win for the home side.
Betis' win saw the Andalusians move out of the relegation zone, while Mallorca dropped to 12th.
