Gold from Silva forges epic win over Atleti
Andre Silva scored a brace to secure Elche a huge 3-2 victory over 10-man Atletico Madrid, moving it out of the LaLiga relegation zone.
Atleti was aiming to bounce back from its Copa del Rey final defeat to Real Sociedad but instead suffered a fourth straight league defeat – despite taking the lead.
It started so well at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero as Nico Gonzalez led a pacy counter-attack before playing a one-two with Rodrigo Mendoza to stab in the opener inside 10 minutes.
But Elche were back on level terms just eight minutes later when Atleti failed to clear a corner and David Affengruber stretched to poke home Tete Morente's nod down.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors on the half-hour mark. Thiago Almada was dispossessed on the edge of his own box, and he then tugged back Affengruber inside the area, resulting in a penalty and a red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Silva comfortably dispatched the subsequent spot-kick, but Atletico pulled back level immediately. Gonzalez brilliantly raced to the right byline, lifted the ball over Matias Dituro and nodded it in, with Affengruber unable to clear before it fully crossed the line.
Alex Baena saw a third Atletico goal disallowed for offside shortly after the break, and Elche upped the pressure after that, with Silva calmly guiding them back into the lead 75 minutes in, and they held on for all three points.
