Carlos Espi the hero again as Real Madrid claim late win over Elche

Match highlight

Madrid looked determined to assert their dominance from the opening whistle and should have taken the lead after just two minutes, but Vinicius Junior fired wide from six metres out.

Elche responded well, with Tete Morente sending an effort narrowly past the post. However, the home side were fortunate when Dean Huijsen—who scored in both meetings last season and was one of five changes to Los Blancos’ starting line-up—headed directly at Matias Dituro after rising to meet a corner.

Chances continued to arrive at both ends. Abiel Osorio fired over the bar on his first Elche start, before Vinicius missed another excellent opportunity.

The opening goal had seemed inevitable, but it arrived in somewhat fortunate circumstances in the 25th minute. Arda Guler’s free-kick struck the far post before rebounding off Dituro’s gloves and into the net for an own goal.

Kylian Mbappe doubled Madrid’s lead eight minutes later, finishing from Yan Diomande’s pass. It was his seventh LaLiga goal of the season and his first away league goal since February.

The forward later had another effort ruled out for offside, before Thibaut Courtois produced a superb stoppage-time save from Morente’s low shot. Elche went into the break behind for the fifth time this season.

To their credit, Los Franjiverdes showed no lack of spirit. The lively Osorio saw a close-range effort deflect off Ibrahima Konate and go wide shortly after the restart.

Morente then forced Courtois into another difficult save with a long-range strike, but Elche remained vulnerable on the counter-attack. Vinicius should have sealed the result from one such break, only to send his effort wide of the post.

The Brazilian was made to regret that miss with 19 minutes remaining, as Osorio headed home Lucas Cepeda’s cross to score his first goal for Elche.

The goal set up a dramatic finish, and Elche deservedly equalised seven minutes from time following their strong second-half display. Substitute Fer Nino struck a low shot into the bottom corner, leaving Courtois with no chance.

Madrid pushed forward in search of a winner and found it in the first minute of stoppage time. Mbappe broke clear before squaring the ball for Espi, who finished into an empty net.

The victory leaves Real Madrid behind Barcelona only on goal difference and extends their unbeaten run against Elche to 20 matches, with 16 wins and four draws.

Meanwhile, Martin Anselmi is still waiting for his first win as Los Franjiverdes manager. Elche remain bottom of the LaLiga table after six matches, having drawn two and lost four.