Sport » Soccer » Elche CF
Marti own goal ruins Elche's day
Rick Wills / 2006-03-27 14:04:38
Elche gave a decent performance away to second placed Gimnastic, matching them in all departments, but ran out of luck when an own goal 10 minutes from time robbed them of a deserved point. Mario was restored to the line up at right back which allowed Noguerol to assume his normal position at centreback. Quesada, whose performances have been impressive since coming into the side, was unfortunate to be omitted, with the lumbering Benja taking his place.
Gimnastic made a few chances early on, but Torres missed a free header from 8 yards, Merino shot just wide from distance, before Torres turned smartly to let loose from 25 yards, but none of their efforts found the target. Ruben, who scored twice in their previous match against Albacete, again looked like Elche's dangerman.He belted a free kick just over from 25 yards, then wriggled into space to hammer a fierce shot which almost went through the keeper's legs. He again raced into the penalty area but was forced wide and his shot went straight at the keeper.
Five minutes into the second half, he almost produced a carbon copy of his second goal against Albacete, hammering a low free kick from distance, which was creeping inside the post, but Ruben Perez did well to get down and push it away to safety. A few minutes later he drifted past 4 defenders before hitting a rare right foot shot, which was goalbound but struck a defender and spun wide.
Ivars came on with 30 minutes left and instantly produced a rasping shot which stung the fingers of Perez. For Gimnastic, Abel struck a terrific shot which was bending away from Unanua, who produced a flying save to keep his team in it. From the ensuing corner disaster struck, when Marti, who had only been on for 5 minutes, rose to head clear at the near post, only to watch in horror as the ball glanced off the top of his head past the startled Unanua. Still Elche had a chance to equalise before the end, when a corner came out to Ruben, who totally miskicked, but the ball fell to Nino who sent his shot high and wide from a good position.
The result was unfortunate for Elche, but their performance was good enough to give them encouragagement for their next match at 5.30 on Sunday, at home to Recreativo, another promotion contender.
Gimnastic 1 - 0 Elche
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