Elche wins and stops Villarreal, who started with Pervis Estupiñán

A goal from the Argentine Lucas Boyé in the final stretch of the match allowed the Elche add three points (1-0) in their aspirations to achieve permanence against a Villarreal that suffers a sudden stop in his attempt to climb the rankings.

The meeting, which meant the Elche’s first victory against Villarreal in the First Division, turned around in a quality action by the South American attacker, who had barely been on the field for a dozen minutes, and decided on a very even game in which the Castellón team never felt comfortable.

The duel was marked by forced absences of several players, some of them at the last minute, such as that of Manu Trigueros by Villarreal and that of Chilean Enzo Roco, during the warm-up, in Elche.

The local team faced the clash with ambition. Francisco Rodríguez’s team, who watched the match in the stands due to suspension, advanced his defense to the center of the field, joined lines and pressed the opponent’s ball out, forcing Villarreal to play long.

The approach of the local team paid off, since managed to disconnect the classic Villarreal game circuit, leaving his midfield virtually incommunicado with the attack.

The Villarreal was only able to escape the trap from Elche on the left side through the Ecuadorian Pervis Estupiñán, who fell several times offside.

Elche, for its part, controlled the pace of the game with discretion through Gumbau and Mascarell, and sought to penalize his rival’s losses with quick counterattacks on the side of Morente.

Elche’s best and only chance came half an hour into the game when Gumbau’s free kick went over the crossbar. Villarreal was unable to respond in attack and the first half was consumed between fouls and protests of the players of both teams.

The passage through the changing rooms did not modify the script of the match. The Elche accentuated their dominance somewhat and showed more ambition, although Villarreal had the first big chance through Yeremi Pino, who, after a defensive mismatch on a throw-in, was unable to beat Egdar Badía in heads-up play.

Francisco tried to revitalize his team in attack with the entry of Lucas Boyé, while Emery opted for Jackson to give vigor and speed to his vanguard.

With the score 0-0, Estupiñán was replaced by Pedraza at minute 74, in search of strengthening the midfield; However the The impact that the Argentine Boyé had in the game was greater and decisive, since on the first occasion in which he was able to approach the Rulli area He took advantage of a drop shot by Gumbau to unleash a whiplash and beat Villarreal’s goal.

The Castellón team tried to react with the entry of Iborra and Raba, but the Elche knew how to protect its advantage, although with final difficulties in some set pieces, to add three vital points in their aspirations to achieve permanence. (D)