Espanyol vs Elche

Match summary

Elche beat Espanyol 3-1 on the road. Elche led 2-0 at half-time.

In the first half, Fernando Niño put Elche ahead in the 26th minute, set up by Roy Revivo and Niño made it 0-2 in the 29th minute, set up by Roy Revivo. In the second half, Chust's own goal pulled one back to make it 1-2 in the 72nd minute and German Valera made it 1-3 in the 78th minute, set up by Tete Morente.

There was little between the sides on chances: Espanyol created 1.08 expected goals (xG) from 23 shots, Elche 1.25 from 9. Elche had a player sent off.

Espanyol dominated territory and statistics in their La Liga matchday 7 fixture against Elche, enjoying sixty-six percent possession, registering twenty-three shots compared to nine from their opponents, and dominating attacks at one hundred and fifty to seventy-five. Despite generating significantly more dangerous attacks and corners, and recording an expected goals figure of one point zero eight against Elche's one point two five, the hosts could not capitalise on their territorial advantage. Both sides accumulated two yellow cards, while Elche also received a red card during a physical encounter that saw fourteen fouls committed by Espanyol and nine by Elche.

The match began with a VAR card review in the fourth minute, followed quickly by a red card shown to Federico Redondo for a professional foul as the last man. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Elche took control through Fer Niño, who scored with a left foot shot in the twenty-sixth minute and added a second with a right foot shot in the twenty-ninth minute. Following an own goal by Víctor Chust that put Espanyol on the scoreboard in the seventy-second minute, Germán Valera restored Elche's two-goal cushion with a left foot shot in the seventy-eighth minute to secure a three-one victory.