Elche came into this duel with the mission of moving away from the relegation spots, while Espanyol needed to add to keep their dream of Europe alive. Barely seven minutes had been played when Kike García put the visitors ahead with a pinpoint shot. The 36-year-old striker hit the ball with his toe, sending it to the long post and seeing how it entered after touching the wood. Far from being intimidated, Elche was gaining ground and little by little controlling possession. Near the end of the first half, a goal came that seemed deserved and, at the same time, unexpected. Marc Aguado intercepted the opponent’s ball, put his foot in and the ball ended up in the back of the net, leaving Dmitrovic completely disconcerted. With that 1-1 tie we reached the break.
After the restart, Elche almost turned the score around in the 55th minute, when Rafa Mir finished from point-blank range, but Dmitrovic rejected the ball without problems. Just two minutes later, Carlos Romero put Espanyol ahead again with a powerful shot into the top corner: a true flagship goal. The match continued with intensity until, in the 80th minute, the game was stopped for a few moments after an alleged exchange of words between Rafa Mir and El Hilali. The tension soon passed and the meeting resumed normally. In the 88th minute, Carlos Romero, who until then had been the hero of the match, caused a penalty by touching the ball with his arm. After the VAR review, Rafa Mir equalized the score from eleven meters. In stoppage time, Pickel, an Espanyol player, was sent off for a double yellow card for protesting. The referee Galech Apezteguía directly gave him the two yellow cards without lowering his arm after the first. Perhaps one of the fastest double yellows in LaLiga history. With this tie, Elche remains two points above relegation and Espanyol is one point away from entering the Conference League (behind Celta). Both teams have gone nine straight league games without winning.
