The entirity of the opening stages belonged to the home side, Athletic, with Mikel Rico setting the tone inside two minutes with a well hit volley that stung the palms of Tyton. They continued to relentlessly attack Tyton's goal until just after the quarter hour mark, where they were then dealt a decisive blow from Elche. On a rare foray, Victor Rodriguez managed to squeeze his way into the box before dinking the ball over an outstretched Iraizoz. Athletic players protested the build-up of the goal, where they claimed the Elche man had handled the ball, but their protests came to no avail and the goal stood.

Athletic attempted to respond to the goal, although they appeared to be posing the bottom club very little danger. Escriba’s men were extremely well organised, and the hosts struggled to break down Elche's backline. Aduriz did go close in the 33rd minute, but his attempt struck the side-netting. Come half-time, Valverde was left with was an important team talk on his hands.

His team left the half to a series of whistles and jeers at San Mames, as they demanded a response from their team after the restart. Unfortunately, they recieved the opposite. Elche started on the front foot straight from the restart, and didn’t stop until they found themselves a precious second goal. It arrived in the 53rd minute when some feeble Athletic defending allowed Jonathas the opportunity to look up inside the box and pick out Fajr, who simply stroked the ball into the bottom corner past the helpless Iraizoz. The home crowd couldn't believe what they were seeing and certainly voiced their frustrations.

The situation was looking bleak for Ernesto Valverde, who immediately responded by making all three changes within ten minutes. One of those proved to be inspired when Mikel San Jose struck, with a little over five minutes played since he entered the pitch. The ball was cleared to him on the edge of the area and the defender lashed his volley into the top corner. San Mames exploded for the first time in the game. Athletic were handed a lifeline and there was hope at last for the home fans.

Although hope is all they had, Athletic pushed as hard as they could for an equalisere, but it was another off-day for Valverde’s side. The surprising victory means that Elche now move off the foot of the table – a sight that finally offers some optimism for all connected with the club. Meanwhile Athletic continue their dissapointing season sitting in a dismal 12th place.

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About the author
Jack Benson
Aspiring football journalist. Twitter: @_JackBenson