Just a point clear of the bottom three going into this round, Espanyol displayed early moments of encouragement going forward.
However, it was the visitors who made no mistake from their first effort on target to draw first blood, as Pere Milla connected with a perfect Lucas Boye cross to stun the hosts with a brilliantly placed header into the far corner from just inside the box.
The Parakeets didn’t have to wait long though, as Javi Puado got across the face of goal following Edu Exposito’s low cross and blasted home from point-blank range to equalise.
Spurred on by the leveller, Espanyol continued to flex their muscles, with Brian Olivan almost scoring a thunderbolt from upwards of 30 yards that whizzed over the bar.
Elche then breathed a huge sigh of relief on the stroke of half-time as defender Helibelton Palacios was first shown a straight red card for a cynical challenge, only for VAR to intervene and prompt referee Jose Luis Manuera Montero to issue a yellow instead.
An end-to-end encounter ensued at the start of the second period, with Diego Martinez’s men mounting pressure on Elche in search of the all important second goal.
Espanyol’s efforts finally paid dividends in the 67th minute, thanks to Martin Braithwaite’s simple tap-in into the left corner following some impressive teamwork involving Oliván and Oscar Gil.
Elche were kept alive in the game by goalkeeper Edgar Badia, who executed a terrific close range save just moments later from Joselu’s bullet header.
With the arrears kept to one, Verdu took advantage and side footed the leveller following a cross onto the far post, sealing a crucial point for his side.
Conceding a gutting late goal means Espanyol are now winless in each of the last five H2H meetings and remain just two points clear of the relegation zone.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Gonzalo Verdu (Elche)
