Carlos Espi, the Real Madrid forward, rescued his teammate Marc Cucurella from a wave of criticism after Real Madrid’s 3-2 victory over Elche last Tuesday in the sixth round of La Liga. The win came in stoppage time, with Espi, a summer signing, scoring the decisive goal.
Real Madrid had been leading 2-0 but retreated significantly in the second half, allowing Elche to equalize. Just when it seemed the match would end in a draw, Espi, who had come on as a substitute, netted the winner in added time.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Espi’s goal saved Cucurella from the criticism that would have engulfed him after he was directly involved in both of Elche’s goals. In the 71st minute, Abel Osorio outjumped Cucurella to head in Elche’s first goal. The second goal came in the 83rd minute when the Spanish left-back failed to clear the ball, allowing Ver Niño to score.
The newspaper noted that Cucurella would have been heavily blamed for his clear mistakes, but the entire Real Madrid team had relaxed, and Vinicius Junior missed three clear goalscoring opportunities—chances that a striker at his peak would normally convert.
It added: “This time, in the play that led to the 2-2 equalizer, Cucurella could not blame his boots for the goals conceded, as he did two years ago in the match against Tottenham and Chelsea when two slips led to two Tottenham goals in the opening minutes of the London derby. That day, Cucurella changed his boots, threw them away, posted a picture on Instagram, and apologized to Chelsea fans.”