Rock-bottom Real Betis held out for a goalless draw at Elche this afternoon to earn just their fifth away point of the La Liga season.

Gabriel Calderon's side are still nine points adrift of safety, but are now unbeaten in three games.

There were few opportunities in the opening 45 minutes, with Elche having the best of them when Ruben Perez created some space for himself to get a shot away from the edge of the box which drifted wide.

An injury to Jose Caro towards the end of the first half further disrupted what had been a poor display from the visitors, but they came to life after the break as both Cedric and Ruben Castro had good chances.

After Elche forward Cristian Herrera had called Betis goalkeeper Antonio Adan into action with the hosts' only shot on target of the match, Betis twice came close to snatching a winning goal.

Cedric's shot on the turn in the 66th minute flew inches wide of the post, before Castro forced home goalkeeper Manu Herrera into a good save with a powerful strike from 12 yards.

Betis are still yet to win away from home in the league this season.