Beaten 3-0 by Elche at Vallecas, Rayo Vallecano saw Pathé Ciss hit the crossbar from the penalty spot. His coach Beñat San José defended the Senegalese midfielder.
The evening of 24 October 2026 will stay grey for Pathé Ciss. At their Vallecas ground, Rayo Vallecano suffered a 3-0 defeat to Elche on matchday 10 of La Liga, and the Senegalese midfielder saw his penalty pushed onto the crossbar by the woodwork when his team were already two goals down, reports Wiwsport.
The set-piece added to an already difficult evening for the Madrid club. According to Unión Rayo, relayed by Africasoccer, it was the first penalty Ciss had taken since joining Rayo. A first attempt missed, then, but one his coach Beñat San José refused to turn into a fault.
San José stands by the choice of taker
Asked after the match, the Rayo coach recalled how his team handle set pieces. Rayo have a list of designated takers, and the players decide on the spot which of them takes it, he explained via Africasoccer.
Within that set-up, Ciss has every right to be there. “Pathé is on that list of takers,” said Beñat San José, quoted by Infobae and the EFE agency. The coach thus dismisses the idea of an improvised choice and refers the discussion back to the hierarchy the staff set out beforehand.
Three penalties in the first half
Rayo did not only lose out on their own penalty. Elche converted two attempts in the first half, through Federico Redondo and Fer Niño, before Germán Valera scored the third goal, according to Comuniate. Three penalties were awarded in the first period, two of them for the visiting club, and several refereeing decisions were contested at Vallecas.
In that context, Ciss’s miss weighs heavily on the Madrid evening. The Senegalese international plays for Rayo Vallecano, where he has established himself as a trusted midfielder, to the point of being included among the team’s regular takers.
An empty stand at Vallecas
The defeat also came with tension among the fans. According to Unión Rayo, the stand remained empty for this match, a sign of a strained climate between the club and part of its supporters.
For Ciss, the penalty episode comes in a delicate spell, both collectively and individually. His coach’s public backing, keeping him on the list of takers, is in that respect a signal sent to the player as much as to the dressing room.
No precise date for what comes next appears in the sources consulted to date; Rayo will in any case need to bounce back after this home defeat, which leaves the Madrid club on a negative note.