A last-gasp goal from Nolito earned unbeaten Celta Vigo their first away win of the new Primera Division season.
The Sky Blues dominated proceedings at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero and could have won by a greater margin, but there could be no real grumbles as Nolito's 90th-minute winner lifted the club into fourth place.
Elche - stuck in 16th place on the back of a third straight defeat - had little luck on the night, with a goal-line clearance from Pablo Hernandez thwarting their best counter-attacking move midway through the second half.
Hernandez drilled just wide after four minutes and, after Jonathas and Victor Rodriguez got weak efforts away at the other end, Nolito warmed Manu Herrera's palms with a curling shot from distance.
The Celta striker steered a free-kick over the crossbar on 20 minutes and Fabian Orellana - the scorer of three goals so far this season - went close with a header after the ball was lofted into the box from deep on the left.
Manu had further food for thought when Michael Krohn-Delhi fizzed a left-footed effort into his arms.
Elche enjoyed a brief rally but needed Faycal Fajr to do much better with the final ball as he twice fluffed solid opportunities to hit the target.
His wastefulness put Celta back on the front foot and they should have notched before half-time.
First, Nolito saw his devious shot blocked by Enzo Roco and then, one minute into stoppage time, Orellana's strike was brilliantly parried to safety by Manu.
Nolito raced onto the rebound but could not find the back of the net from a narrow angle.
Celta picked up where they left off when play resumed, with Nolito providing the pass for Orellana that the Chilean put wide from six yards out.
Hernandez bobbled a weak shot into Manu's gloves when in a good position to let rip, and Elche promptly countered before going dangerously close to scoring against the run of play.
It looked like Fajr had overcooked his free-kick from the left, but to the horror of the Celta defence it bounced goalwards and was only kept from crossing the line by a desperate hook from Hernandez.
The visitors heeded the warning and raced down the other end, Orellana streaking clear down the right wing only to drag the ball across the box and wide at the far post.
The introduction of Coro for Fajr gave Elche a creative boost in midfield and the substitute almost turned provider with a ball in to Jonathas that the Brazilian could only slam against Sergio.
But Celta were having none of it and steadily turned the screw as time ticked away on the east coast.
Nolito had reminded Manu he was there with a close-range effort five minutes from time and, with fewer than 60 seconds remaining, he scored the only goal of the game.
The increasingly influential Krohn-Delhi picked out his team-mate from the right wing and he made no mistake in tucking away his fourth goal of the season, in the process securing all three points for Celta.
ends