Elche end Spanish jinx in 20th league game with win over Villarreal
BARCELONA: Elche ended their excruciatingly long wait for a win in the Spanish League on Saturday ater Pere Milla scored a hat-trick to beat Villarreal 3-1 at home.
Last-placed Elche, a modest club from southern Spain, endured the entire first half of the league without a single win.
The victory finally came in Round 20 against a Villarreal side that beat Real Madrid last month and is fighting for a Champions League berth.
Elche, playing under its third coach of the campaign, will still need a major turnaround to avoid relegation. It has just nine points and sits 11 points from safety.
Milla, playing in his fourth season at Elche, opened the scoring when he fired a deflected ball past Pepe Reina three minutes ater kickoff in Elche.
Gerard Moreno equalized in the 22nd with his eighth goal across all competitions from a pass by Álex Baena.
But Milla converted two penalties in the 48th and 52nd to ensure the 18,000 fans who turned out could finally have a reason to celebrate. The spectators did the wave at Martinez Valero Stadium in the final minutes of the game.
That doubled Milla’s tally of goals in the league this season to six.
Villarreal stayed in fith place, three points from the Champions League positions, ater a second straight loss for Quique Setién’s team.
Also, Espanyol came back to draw at home with Osasuna 1-1 in a game both teams finished with 10 men ater their players received second bookings shortly before haltime.
Meanwhile, Oihan Sancet scored his second career hat trick to lead 10-man Athletic Bilbao to a 4-1 victory at home over Cadiz on Friday.
Bilbao lost defender Yuri Berchiche to a second yellow card in the 58th minute while leading 3-1. Cadiz was never able to take advantage of the extra man -- or stop Sancet from completing his treble. Sancet grabbed the 10th-minute opener with a fierce strike from an angle that found the top corner.
New signing Gonzalo Escalante equalized for Cadiz at San Mames Stadium in the 25th.
But Sancet struck again 10 minutes later by firing in a pass by Raúl García ater Cadiz gave up the ball near its area while under pressure. Defender Yeray Álvarez headed in a free kick to add to the lead just before haltime.