Aubameyang scores on Deportivo's first night back, and Riazor still only gets a point

Riazor got its goal on 21 minutes, and it came from the name everybody had turned up to watch. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put Deportivo ahead on the opening night of their season.

Holding it was the hard part, and they nearly managed.

Elche kept the ball, Deportivo kept the lead

Elche finished with 61% possession, 640 passes to Deportivo's 403, and 88% accuracy. They created two big chances to Deportivo's none, and their 1.41 expected goals against Deportivo's 0.34 says who was doing the football.

The equaliser arrived on 76 minutes through Marc Aguado. Deportivo's goalkeeper made five saves; a sixth would have won the game.

Aubameyang's goal became a habit

The opener at Riazor was not a one-off. Seven days later, at Málaga's La Rosaleda, Aubameyang scored again at exactly the same mark — the 21st minute — as Deportivo drew 1-1 for a second week running. On matchday 3, back at Riazor against Valencia, he doubled Deportivo's lead on 17 minutes in what was by then his third goal in three games, in a match Deportivo won 3-1. On matchday 4, away at Villarreal, he struck in the 88th minute to complete a come-from-behind 3-2 win — a run in which he had been directly involved in a goal in every single Deportivo match of the season so far.

The Villarreal win turned out to be the peak, not a springboard. Deportivo drew 1-1 away at Getafe on matchday 5, then lost 0-1 at home to Sevilla on matchday 6 — their only defeat of the campaign so far. They steadied on matchday 7, drawing 1-1 at home to Real Betis. Seven games in, the side that beat Villarreal 3-2 have won only one of their next three matches: one win, two draws, one loss.

Elche's Riazor performance did not translate into results

The numbers Elche produced at Riazor — 61% possession, 640 passes, a 1.41-to-0.34 expected-goals edge — read like the platform for a winning run. Instead, Elche lost 0-5 at home to Barcelona on matchday 2, beaten by five goals from just eleven shots against them. On matchday 3, away at Racing Santander, they completed 481 passes at 87% accuracy and scored twice in the space of two minutes through Buba Sangaré and Fernando Niño, but it came too late in a 3-2 defeat. Three matchdays into the season, Elche had one point, three goals scored and nine conceded — the worst goal difference of the four clubs who had played three matches by that point.

Match facts

• 21' — Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Deportivo)
• 76' — Marc Aguado (Elche)

The losing run kept going before Elche finally found a win. They lost 2-3 at home to Real Sociedad on matchday 4, drew 1-1 away at Athletic Club on matchday 5, then lost 2-3 at home to Real Madrid on matchday 6. The first three points of the season came on matchday 7, away at Espanyol, a 3-1 win. Since the opening night at Riazor, Elche's record reads one win, one draw and four defeats — the possession and passing numbers from that first match never turned into the results to match them.

Where the table stands after matchday 7

In the LaLiga standings after matchday 7, Deportivo sit 7th on 10 points from seven games — two wins, four draws, one defeat — just outside the division's five Champions League places, with Sevilla two points ahead of them in 5th. Elche, by contrast, have five points from six games played and sit 18th, on the wrong side of the three-club relegation zone (18th-20th) that starts at their exact position — the zone Deportivo pulled clear of at Villarreal and have stayed clear of since.

What's next

Deportivo go to Málaga on Monday 24 August, promoted side against promoted side. Elche host Barcelona on Sunday 23 August, which is a rather different way to spend a weekend.