Elche inch even closer to safety

After putting up a great physical contest for 90 minutes, Elche CF beat Real Sociedad 1-0 to draw a close on the Liga BBVA matchday 32 action. The result leaves Fran Escribá’s men in 14th position with 34 points. Meanwhile, David Moyes’s charges sit in 12th with 38 points.

The beginning of the first half was a tactical battle between the two sides. Elche threatened first in the tenth minute from a corner kick, when a move clearly worked on in training ended with Domingo Cisma blasting his shot over the bar from the edge of the box. The home team broke the deadlock shortly afterwards when Jonathas de Jesus made the most of a mix up in the Basque defence to slip the ball past Gerónimo Rulli. Xabi Prieto came the closest for Real Sociedad in the first half when he got on the end of a Chorty Castro cross, however, his effort was also too high.

The game opened up a lot more after the break. The visitors needed to turn things around on the scoreboard and the Alicante outfit continued searching for a second goal. Indeed, as the minutes ticked by, Fran Escribá’s team enjoyed the lion’s share of the goalscoring opportunities as a result of there being more space. Mario Pašalić had one of the clearest chances in the 75th minute following a Jonathas-led counter attack. However, the Croatian’s strike from the edge of the box was diverted away from goal. Real Sociedad tried to find an equaliser but barely troubled Elche towards the end of the encounter, and as such the 1-0 scoreline from the opening 45 minutes held out until the final whistle.