Rayo Vallecano 1-0 Elche
Rayo Vallecano gave themselves the breathing room they wanted to enjoy their Conference League game against AEK Athens on Thursday, after dropping ten men to Vallecas. Los Franjiverdes had little to show for their efforts in something of an arm wrestle.
The importance of the game was evident to the Elche players early on, as they nervously fended off a subtle attack from Rayo Vallecano in the opening stages. It’s not often that Rayo face a team with the same resources intent on dominating the ball, and it meant that both teams remained very alert to transitions, taking the safe pass more often than not.
As the game approached the half-hour mark, the home side began to find more space in midfield, with Unai Lopez working Matias Dituro for the first time in earnest. Minutes ago, Florian Lejuene opened a clear spot in the corner. Dituro was too anxious to get involved after that, running from the edge of his box to be rounded by Alvaro Garcia. Against an angle, Garcia beat Dituro twice more in the box, as the Elche defenders scrambled to close down his options, and eventually blocked his effort off the line.
That could be described as a good effort, but after a few seconds he wished for the same composure. After a lovely pass from Andrei Ratiu, this time he blazed over the inside left post. Firmly on the back foot now, Elche almost responded with an opener. Buba Sangare’s cheeky ball through the passage of uncertainty sent Rafa Mir off the back of the post as well, who was inches away from connecting with it.
That could be considered the moment of Elche’s sliding doors. In the most exciting moment of the game, from the piece that followed immediately after that, Bigas attacked the ball with a high foot, Oscar Valentin beat him with his head. The result was a yellow card for the veteran captain after 40 minutes, for the second time.
Rayo take the lead after a hard burst
Eder Sarabia must have thought his luck had changed when Rayo’s mistake at the back gave German Valera the opening moments of the second half. He only managed to hit the gloves of Augusto Batalla, and the embarrassment took him a while to recover from. Determined to make Valera regret his effort from the middle, Lejeune then whistled a 30-yard shot just wide of the post. If Elche had come out to control the ball and cut to Rayo in the first half, a red card reversed that script in the second half.
The game was swinging with Sarabia seemingly content midway through the second half, with Elche able to defend in a prepared position – first stopping Rayo’s counters. That’s why the buzz went up a gear when Andrei Ratiu cut the ball back to Pedro Diaz on the edge of the box, and his curling effort licked wide of the post. Most of Rayo’s shots came from outside the box, and just like in the opening game, it felt like it was a battle of momentum – Rayo trying to increase the tempo, Elche doing their best to slow it down.
For the first time in the second half, Rayo managed to do so, and with 15 minutes to go, Elche finally paid. Simple in design, substitute Randy Nteka simply read Garcia’s cross from the left better than his marker, then slotted home at the near post before Dituro could react. In something of an inspired turnaround for Inigo Perez, the Angolan was on the scoresheet for the first time in 15 months.
Making three changes, Sarabia’s side never looked like they had the resolve to bounce back in the final 15 minutes. He doesn’t know the exact game at all, if anything Rayo is happy to finally have the space to expand when he gets the ball.
The win moves Rayo seven points down to 12th place, as they prepare for Thursday’s Conference League quarter-final. A solid if slow display was enough to squeeze Elche out of the game once down to tenth.
Elche will be hoping with fear that Real Madrid can ensure that RCD Mallorca do not remove their one-point advantage from the drop zone. After an important win for Los Bermellones last week, it’s back to the drawing board ahead of Valencia next week. There was little to complain about their effort and performance, but at this stage of the season, to take less of a performance is disappointing, not to take points from a game to endure a worrying week.
