Elche ends winless streak in 2026 with victory over Mallorca in La Liga

Audio By Carbonatix

MADRID (AP) — Elche left the relegation zone in La Liga by defeating Mallorca 2-1 for its first victory of the year on Saturday, while Sevilla's struggles continued in a 2-0 home loss to Valencia.

Elche scored twice in less than 10 minutes in the second half to earn the come-from-behind victory.

Mallorca went ahead with a goal by Pablo Torre in the 58th minute but Elche rallied with scores by Rafa Mir in the 62nd and Tete Morente in the 71st.

The result moved Elche to 16th place, one point above the drop zone. It hadn’t won a match across all competitions since Dec. 21. It had lost eight of its last 12 games with four draws.

Mallorca dropped to 18th place and entered the relegation zone.

“Three months without a win, that's incredible,” Elche coach Eder Sarabia said. “It was a tough winter for us here at Elche.”

Sevilla stayed three points above the bottom three after the loss to Valencia, which went up to 11th place with its fourth victory in six matches.

Hugo Duro and Largie Ramazani scored first half goals for the visitors.

Sevilla has only one win in its last seven games.

“We can't play like this,” Sevilla midfielder Djibril Sow said. “Now we have a series of finals ahead and we have to improve. Our goal is to fight against relegation.”

Valencia defender José Luis Gayà and Sevilla forward Juanlu had to be taken to a hospital for exams for head injuries after twice colliding with each other in the first half, according to Spanish media.

The players continued playing after the collisions but eventually were substituted.

Espanyol extended its winless streak in 2026 to 12 games after a 2-1 home loss to Getafe. Getafe moved to eighth place, two spots ahead of Espanyol.

Osasuna defeated Girona 1-0 with an 80th-minute goal by Ante Budimir, halting a three-game winless run.

In a match between bottom-table teams, 19th-placed Levante beat 20th-placed Oviedo 4-2 at home.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer