The football world often hinges on momentum. When things go right, luck tends to align with effort and results follow. Yet misfortune can strike hard, and when it does, every decision — from individual matches to officiating calls — can influence the outcome. This season has seen Elche CF endure a streak of tough breaks, with details at the center of many games counted as setbacks for the team.
The late, hard-earned victory at Mallorca last weekend appears to have shifted a pattern of bad luck that had lingered for a long spell. The match carried weight beyond the three points, symbolizing a turning point in a season marked by adversity.
The decisive moment came when Lucas Boyé struck in the 88th minute, sealing the win. Earlier, a controversial equalizer against the Balearic Islands loomed large, following a prior foul by Maffeo on Raúl Guti. With six minutes of stoppage time already elapsed, the decision to allow play to resume sparked debate, yet it ultimately helped break several unfavorable sequences.
The Elche squad marked their first away win of the season at Son Moix and, for the first time this campaign, kept a clean sheet in an away fixture. This followed a stretch of 29 league games in the 2022-2023 season, and it also carried into the final five matches from the previous year.
In the end, football delivered its due for Elche. A concise recap of the Mallorca-Elche encounter
The last Elche victory at Martinez Valero dates back more than ten months, to April 19, 2022, on the 33rd matchday of the prior campaign. Back then, under the guidance of a different coach, the team clinched a late win with Morente featuring at the 82nd minute, securing a sense of permanence in the top flight with days to spare. Since that moment, the first eleven away fixtures of the current season yielded little joy: a run of eight losses and several draws, with only a handful of stalemates offering any relief. The turning point finally came in Mallorca, ending a long spell of away frustration.
On the defensive side, Edgar Badía stood out as one of the league’s busiest goalkeepers. The Catalan keeper has faced sustained pressure, with the team conceding a high volume of goals this season. The season’s earlier days had seen Badía endure goals against him early on, and the last stretch of the previous campaign also tested his resolve. Yet the late run of matches in Mallorca showed resilience, as Elche managed to hold on and minimize chances against them.
The victory in Mallorca lifted Elche to 12 points, crossing into double digits for the first time this season and narrowing the gap to safety. It represented not just a numerical uptick but a symbolic step toward reestablishing belief within the squad and its supporters. The club still faced a long climb, but the result offered reassurance that the path back toward stability remains reachable.
a message of life
The situation remains deeply challenging, bordering on the improbable. The group in the Franciverde locker room remains convinced they can avoid relegation and return to competitive form. They continue to press forward, believing that the sequence of negative results, including disputable officiating decisions, can be overturned through focus and disciplined play. The core is simple: keep fighting until the math says the task is no longer possible, and stay hopeful that better days will come.