Elche have reached the last 16 of the Copa del Rey and earned themselves a glamour tie against Barcelona after narrowly beating Real Valladolid 1-0 in tonight's clash at the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero.
The hosts opened the scoring within the opening stages of the game, Adrian latching on to Cristian Herrera's ball in the seventh minute before firing a shot from outside the box into the bottom corner which put Fran Escriba's charges 1-0 up on aggregate.
Just before the quarter-hour mark, Elche had a great chance to double their lead when Edu Albacar's cross fell to Sergio Pelegrin, but the defender's header from yards out was saved by Dani Hernandez.
The first half found itself punctuated by a myriad of fouls and tackles that broke up play, with serious chances increasingly at a premium.
After the break, Valladolid took control of the game and pushed forward at every opportunity, with a multitude of chances threatening Przemyslaw Tyton in the Elche goal.
David Timor in particular came agonisingly close on several occasions, with a close range header in the 57th minute and with a free kick on the hour that swerved just wide.
However, the visitors couldn't make the breakthrough and were reduced to 10 men right at the death when Timor was given his marching orders for a second yellow card.
This allowed Elche to sneak the win and progress to the last 16 of the competition.
Giuseppe Labellarte
