Harvey Elliott came off the bench in Valencia’s 2-2 draw at Racing Santander on Sunday. He entered with his side trailing at El Sardinero.
Valencia were 2-1 down when coach Javier Aguirre made two changes in the 58th minute. Elliott replaced Dani Raba, and 18-year-old David Otorbi replaced Ugrinic.
Seven minutes later, Otorbi scored his first goal for the senior side. Elliott played 31 minutes in total.
Raba put Valencia ahead in the second minute. Yassir Zabiri equalised for Racing in the 32nd minute.
Aguirre switched to a 4-2-3-1 at half-time, bringing on Danjuma for Diakhaby. Ivan Martin put Racing in front in the 47th minute with a volley from the edge of the box.
Otorbi levelled in the 65th minute after Javi Guerra carried the ball into the area.
Raba had played only eight minutes this season before scoring on Sunday.
Aguirre explained his thinking after the game. The match was his first in charge of Valencia.
At his press conference, the Mexican said the performance data had caught his attention when he arrived.
“When I arrived, I saw the data for Dani Raba, Harvey Elliott, and Hugo Duro, and that they weren’t playing,” he said.
“I watched them train and thought, ‘these guys have to play.’”
Aguirre then praised all three.
“I’m very pleased with them. Hugo’s calves were cramping up on him today. He has to bury the one he had, but he trains really well and played really well today.”
Valencia sit 19th in LaLiga with five points from eight games, while Racing are 15th with eight.
Racing arrived after a 7-2 defeat by Barcelona and a 5-0 defeat by Celta. The draw repeated the 2-2 result from Valencia’s last visit to Santander, in 2012.
Valencia appointed Aguirre on 23 September on a contract until the end of the season, with an option for a further year. He replaced interim coach Oscar Sanchez, who had taken over from the sacked Carlos Corberan after one point from the first five games.
Elliott, 23, joined Valencia on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day. Inside Futbol reports that Valencia pay part of his salary, Liverpool cover the rest and the deal has no option to buy.
He spent last season on loan at Aston Villa and did not appear regularly under Unai Emery. He has made 149 appearances for Liverpool and been involved in 36 goals.
Valencia host Athletic Club at Mestalla on Saturday.
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