Ten-man Elche stun Espanyol 3-1 for their first win of the season

Elche picked up their first league win of the season in the most unlikely fashion, beating Espanyol 3-1 at RCDE Stadium on Friday despite playing almost the entire match with ten men. Federico Redondo was sent off inside six minutes, yet Elche still led by half-time and closed it out with a late own goal and a fourth-goal gloss from Germán Valera.

Six minutes in, down to ten

1. 6' — Federico Redondo's initial yellow card is upgraded to red after a VAR review, for a foul that denied Espanyol a clear scoring chance
2. 26' — Fer Niño finishes from a Roy Revivo assist to put ten-man Elche ahead, 0-1
3. 29' — Niño scores again, also set up by Revivo, 0-2
4. 72' — Víctor Chust turns the ball into his own net, 1-2 (Espanyol get one back)
5. 78' — Germán Valera adds a fourth, assisted by Tete Morente, 1-3

Roy Revivo's two assists inside three minutes did the early damage, and Elche's back line — reorganized after Redondo's dismissal — held out for almost the entire second half before Chust's own goal briefly gave Espanyol hope. Valera's finish with twelve minutes left put the result beyond doubt.

First win, at the sixth attempt

It was Elche's first win in six league games this season, after two draws and three defeats that had left them bottom of the table on 2 points. Espanyol arrived off the back of a 1-2 defeat at Rayo Vallecano and had already lost once at home this season, to Real Madrid; Friday's result was their third defeat in six league matches, against two wins and a draw.

Contrasting trajectories

The two sides had been heading in opposite directions before kickoff. Espanyol's first six matchdays were erratic rather than bad: an opening 3-0 win over Levante, a home defeat to Real Madrid, a battling 1-1 draw against Sevilla and a 2-0 win at Osasuna sandwiched between two away losses, at Real Sociedad and then Rayo Vallecano. It was enough for mid-table, but never enough to build a run. Elche's form was starker — a point salvaged at Deportivo on the opening weekend was followed by five matches without a win, including a 0-5 hammering by Barcelona at home and back-to-back three-goal defeats to Real Sociedad and Real Madrid. Friday flipped that pattern in an instant, and did it with ten men on the pitch for 84 of the 90 minutes.

Match stats

Line-ups

Espanyol lined up in a 4-2-3-1: Marko Dmitrović in goal, Leandro Cabrera, Roger Hinojo, Unai Núñez and José Ángel across the back, Edu Expósito and Javi Hernández screening, Urko González de Zárate, Bryan Zaragoza and Cala behind lone striker Roberto Fernández. Elche set up in a 4-3-3 with Matías Dituro in goal, Buba Sangaré, Roy Revivo, Federico Redondo and Víctor Chust in defense, Javier Morcillo, Gonzalo Villar and Thomas Lemar in midfield, and a front three of Germán Valera, Fer Niño and Lucas Cepeda — before Redondo's red card forced an early reshuffle.

What's next

Espanyol went into the weekend 9th on 7 points from 6 games and stay there in points terms after the defeat. Elche had been bottom on 2 points from 5 games, with only six goals scored all season; the win takes them to 5 points and their tally to nine goals in six matches, three of them coming on Friday with a player short for all but six minutes of the game.

In the current table, Espanyol sit 12th on 7 points from seven games, comfortably clear of the relegation zone that starts at 18th. Elche, despite the win, remain inside that zone on 5 points from six games — 18th of 20, one point above 19th-placed Valencia and two above bottom club Málaga. Friday's result was enough to lift them off the foot of the table for the first time all season, but not out of the drop zone itself.