Jonathas and Tytoń give Elche breathing space

Elche CF earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over SD Eibar in the final game of matchday 23 of the Liga BBVA, a solitary second-half strike from Jonathas de Jesús settling it for the visitors.

The rain came down throughout the first half, leading to an affair dominated by moments of imprecision. Both sides only enjoyed scoring chances from dead-ball situations or with long-range efforts, seeking to make the most of the second ball. First it was Edu Albacar who threatened for Elche, before Raúl Navas and Borja Fernández tried their luck with powerful attempts that found the gloves of goalkeeper Przemysław Tytoń. 

The second half could not have got off to a better start for Elche, who took the lead through Jonathas after five minutes. The goal urged Eibar on, and they put together plenty of play as they went after the game, led by Javi Lara, but lacked cutting edge and came up against Tytoń time and again. The substitutions made by Gaizka Garitano, who introduced two of his forwards, were unable to change the match, and Elche left Ipurua with all three points having made it two league wins in a row.