With the two teams coming into the night trending in opposite directions on the form chart, early Real Madrid dominance came as no surprise.
While Los Blancos saw an early strike chalked off for offside, they would not be denied their opener just past the 10-minute mark.
After some lovely combination play on the edge of the Elche box, the ball fell kindly to Real’s in-form man Federico Valverde, who lashed his strike into the top corner past the outstretched hand of the keeper to put the league leaders ahead.
Ancelotti’s men did have another goal ruled out for a marginal offside, but their dominance only grew as the break approached.
Continuing to flex their muscles, Real Madrid pushed to double their lead and all but collect the three points. They looked to do so on the hour mark when Karim Benzema headed home from point-blank range. Astonishingly, the referee chalked off the goal for yet another tight offside, sparing Elche’s blushes for a third time.
Finally, Madrid’s second came with 15 minutes remaining on the night, as some lovely one-touch football in the Elche box was capped off by Benzema sliding home from close range, putting the visitors out of reach.
A late Marco Asensio strike on the break drove the final nail into Elche’s coffin, capping off a dominant performance from the reigning league champions.
While Elche came into the night in desperate need of kick-starting their season, there would have been some acceptance around the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero that a visit from the league leaders would not be the night to do it. With no league victories in 10 games, Elche continue to slip further away from the 19 teams above them.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)