Germán Valera seals Elche’s 0-3 win at Rayo Vallecano

Elche defeated Rayo Vallecano 0-3 at Estadio de Vallecas, leading 0-2 at half-time. The result gave Elche the points in this La Liga regular-season match.

Penalties put Elche in control

Federico Redondo Solari opened the scoring for Elche from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute, making it 0-1. Fernando Niño Rodríguez converted Elche’s second penalty in the 36th minute for 0-2. Rayo had a chance to respond, but Pathé Ciss missed a penalty in the 39th minute.

Germán Valera completed the scoring in the 68th minute with a normal goal, assisted by Facundo Buonanotte, to make the running score 0-3. Elche also received yellow cards for Javier Morcillo Rodrigálvarez, Gonzalo Villar and Federico Redondo Solari, while Rayo had three bookings, including Ciss after the first penalty goal.

Rayo had possession, Elche had the sharper efforts

Rayo held 57% possession and attempted 18 shots to Elche’s 16. However, Elche produced nine shots on goal compared with Rayo’s five, while its expected-goals figure was 2.63 against Rayo’s 1.58. Those figures help explain the visitors’ three-goal margin despite Rayo having more of the ball.

A decisive display from Valera

Valera was the highest-rated player, receiving 7.9 after 90 minutes. His goal, one shot on target and two tackles underlined his contribution. Going into the match, Rayo were ranked #14 on 9 points from 8 games, while Elche were ranked #18 on 7 points from 9 games. The result records a win for Elche and a loss for Rayo in their latest fixture.