Real Madrid 2 – Elche CF 1
Real Madrid have not lost any of their past nine games against Elche in La Liga, winning eight of them, since a 3-1 loss in March 1978 but they came close to losing their run-on Saturday as a rejuvenated Elche took them to the very wire before Karim Benzema’s wonderful, angled shot from the edge of the area beats the reach of Edgar Badia gave the hosts a narrow win.
A dogged display by the visitors saw them keep Real Madrid at bay and although what appeared to be a justified claim for an Elche penalty was turned down in the 60th minute, just moments later Dani Calvo rose highest to send his header in off the bar from a corner, to put Los Franjiverdes into an unexpected lead.
Benzema pulled real Madrid back level after he nodded in a peach of a cross from Luka Modric on 73 minutes and then, when Elche looked to have weathered the storm, a stunner from the French striker robbed them of what should have been a valuable point.
Next up for Elche is a trip to 4th placed Seville on Wednesday, who they beat just over a week ago to sneak out of the bottom three.
Image courtesy Elche CF Twitter – Dani Calvo rose highest to send his header in off the bar from a corner
