With up to 12 Valladolid players and staff having previous links to Elche, there was an interesting sub-plot to this game. Gonzalo Plata may not have had ties to Elche, but he was out to sink them inside a minute, but as his effort looked goalbound, a flying Édgar Badía save kept the scores level. The Elche stopper was powerless to deny Valladolid taking the lead before the break though, as Javi Sánchez was on hand to finish Plata’s pinpoint delivery.
It didn’t take long after the break for Valladolid to re-assert their authority on the game as they struck a second within a minute of the restart. Roque Mesa had insisted his side would need to be at “200%” to beat Elche in the build up to the game, and he backed up his own claim by raising his game to double Valladolid’s advantage and effectively end the game as a contest.
That was at least until Elche manufactured a lifeline in unlikely fashion, as Josan powered home from the edge of the area to halve the arrears, with the momentum of the game beginning to swing in Elche’s favour. Yet despite holding the momentum, the visitors couldn’t make their pressure pay and slumped to yet another winless outing as the survival picture begins to look bleaker with each growing week. As for Valladolid, victory cements their spot in mid-table as they aim to steer clear of the bottom three.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Gonzalo Plata (Real Valladolid)