Rayo Vallecano vs Elche

Rayo Vallecano ground out a 1-0 victory over 10-man Elche at the Estadio de Vallecas on Friday night, with substitute Randy Nteka coming back to haunt his former club. The decisive moment arrived in the 74th minute when Nteka, introduced just eight minutes earlier, latched onto a move down the left flank to break the deadlock. Elche's task became significantly harder before the break when defender Pedro Bigas was shown a second yellow card in the 39th minute, leaving the visitors to battle through the entire second half a man down. Despite the numerical advantage, Rayo struggled to find a way through until Nteka's intervention. The result lifts Rayo Vallecano further from danger, while Elche suffered a 12th away defeat of the campaign, a grim record that keeps them deep in the relegation fight with eight matches remaining.