Chukwueze's Villarreal fall to 3-1 defeat against Elche

Pere Mila scored a hat-trick to lead Elche to a well-deserved 3-1 win over Villarreal and keep their faint hopes of survival alive.

There’s been very little for the Elche fans to cheer about this term, with no side collecting fewer points, scoring fewer goals or conceding as many on their own turf in LaLiga before kick-off.

 A welcome surprise arrived within three minutes here, though, when calamitous Villarreal defending allowed them to take the lead. Ezequiel Ponce’s shot took a wicked deflection and landed at the feet of Milla to slot home to stun their supporters.

Milla opened the scoring when he fired a deflected ball past Pepe Reina three minutes after kickoff in Elche. Gerard Moreno equalized in the 22nd with his eighth goal across all competitions from a pass by Álex Baena. 

However, 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.