Aubameyang scored Deportivo’s first La Liga goal in eight years, and Elche still took a point from Riazor

Deportivo de La Coruña had not played a La Liga match since 2018. They got one on Monday night at Riazor, in front of 29,038 people, and for most of the evening it went the way the city had imagined. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put them in front after 21 minutes. Marc Aguado headed Elche level in the 76th. One point each, and a first night back that was a lot better before the 76th minute.

The 1.5 million euro signing did exactly what he was bought for

Aubameyang is 37. He arrived from Marseille in July on a two-year deal for a fee reported at around 1.5 million euros, which is the sort of business a promoted club does when it needs a recognisable name and cannot pay market rate for one. Lorenzo Amatucci found him from distance, he took the ball down and finished left-footed across Matías Dituro, and Riazor got the moment it had been waiting eight years for.

Deportivo had three shots on target across the whole night. The first of them went in. That is roughly the margin a promoted side is working with in August, and it is why clubs in their position spend what little they have on someone who converts half-chances rather than on another midfielder.

Elche kept coming and eventually got the header

Martín Anselmi was in charge of his first competitive match since replacing Eder Sarabia in June, and his team played like one that finished 15th last season on 43 points, one clear of the drop. Elche had 61 percent of the ball, won seven corners to Deportivo’s two and had six shots on target. Aguado’s equaliser came from one of those corners, a header in the 76th minute with the home side sitting deeper by the minute.

Antonio Hidalgo had already started changing things by then. Zakaria Eddahchouri and Diego Villares came on at the hour, Luismi Cruz and Mella followed on 71 minutes, and Aubameyang was withdrawn with five minutes left. Leo Román made five saves in the Deportivo goal, which is a fair summary of how the second half went.

What eight years away actually looked like

The absence was not one long stay in the second division. Deportivo went down from La Liga in 2018, then fell again after the 2019-20 season into the third tier, where they stayed for four years. They won their Primera Federación group in 2023-24 to get back into the professional leagues, and finished second in the Segunda División last season on 77 points, five behind champions Racing Santander, who are also back in La Liga this month.

It is worth remembering what this club was. Deportivo won the Spanish title in 1999-2000 and reached a Champions League semi-final in 2004, a run that included beating the holders Milan 4-0 at Riazor to overturn a 4-1 first-leg defeat. Supporters who were in the ground that night have since watched their team play third-division football. Monday was the first time in a long while that the fixture list looked normal again.

A point from the opening match settles nothing in August. What Deportivo will take from it is that the goal came from the player they went out and bought for goals, and that they were still level when Elche finished pushing. Both of those will be tested a great deal harder than they were on Monday.

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