A brace from Vinícius Jr. saw Real Madrid overcome Elche, ending their opponents’ six-game unbeaten run at home to move top of the La Liga table.
Looking to bounce back after a disappointing 0-0 draw with Osasuna last time out, Real Madrid squared off against Elche, who were without a win against ‘Los Blancos’ since March 1978 going into the game. Despite the gulf in class, it was Elche that came closest to scoring in the first 20 minutes, with Lucas Boyé driving an angled effort towards the palms of Thibaut Courtois, who turned it away.
It was a chance they should have taken, with Real Madrid finding the lead not long after through man of the moment Vinícius Jr., who received the ball in behind from Mariano Díaz’s expert pass, before driving his effort into the bottom corner with 22 minutes on the clock. One should have become two just minutes later, when Mariano Díaz rounded Kiko Casilla at a tight angle, before only finding the side netting, leaving just one goal separating the sides at the break.
The hosts created a golden opportunity to equalise early in the second half, with Raúl Guti wasting his volley from the corner, firing into the arms of Courtois. It turned out to be a couple of minutes for the midfielder to forget, with a rash challenge mere seconds later resulting in a second yellow card and his dismissal.
From there, Real Madrid were able to take advantage and find the second, once again through Vinícius, whose delicate chip over Kiko Casilla from close-range sealed all three points. The hosts managed to halve the deficit through substitute Pere Milla, who took advantage of a defensive mishap before finishing superbly, but it was only a consolation as Real Madrid moved top of La Liga, leaving Elche just two points away from the drop zone
