SAN PEDRO DEL PINATAR (EFE). Elche lost this Wednesday 1-3 against Villarreal B, who will play in the second division this year, and once again accused their lack of shooting.
Francisco Rodríguez’s men, who lost 1-2 in their first pre-season game on Saturday against England Under-23 side Newcastle, showed they have a lot of work to do.
In the first half, the Elche team were able to take a lead at the Pinatar Arena thanks to a deflected shot from Omar Mascarell, as did their rival in an action in which Juan Carlos Arana met Edgar Badia.
The first goal came five minutes after the break and it was from the Castellón team. Arana did not fail in the head-to-head against the green and green goalkeeper.
Just before reaching the interval, Raúl Guti almost equalized, but his shot hit a post and the ball, after touching the back of goalkeeper Iker Álvarez, ended up going wide.
In the second half, with Miguel Álvarez betting on 11 other starters, Villarreal’s reserve side increased their advantage when Argentina’s Tiago Geralnik took advantage of a pass from Fer Niño.
Elche, who had a good chance with a Mourad Daudi shot over the crossbar before conceding the second goal, closed the gap to 11 yards after Argentina’s Lucas Boyé scored from the penalty spot.
However, just two minutes later, Villarreal B opened the gap again through Fer Niño on a pass from Daniel Tasende.
In the final stages, Elche hardly generated any danger and had no serious chance of avoiding defeat.
Match sheet:
1 – Elche CF: Edgar Bay; Helibelton Palace, Enzo Rock; Omar Mascarell, Chatauya, Raul Guti, Fidel; Tete Morente and Mourad David. Diego Gonzalez, Pedro Bigas, Josan, Mojica, Gumbau, Pere Milla, Lucas Boye, Rodri Mendoza, Carles Marco and Alfaro also featured in the second half.
3 – Villarreal CF B: Iker Alvarez, Leal, De la Fuente, Abraham Del Moral, Romero; Rodrigo Alonso, Hassan, Iosifov, Sergio Lozano; Alberto del Moral and Arana. Gianni Cassaro, Galdón, Tasende, Pablo Íñiguez, Espigares, Carlo García, Gelardo, Geralnik, Comeras, Fer Niño and Thiago Ojeda also featured in the second half.
Referee: Juan Antonio Campos Salinas, from the Murcia committee.
Goals: 0-1, M.40: Arana. 0-2, M.58: Geralnik. 1-2, M.68: Lucas Boyé, from the penalty spot. 1-3. M.70: Iron Child.
Incidents: Match played at the Pinatar Arena complex in the Murcian town of San Pedro del Pinatar in front of some 600 spectators.