Copa del Rey

Fourth round, second leg

The first real surprise of the second leg ties came on Thursday, second division Alcorcón knocking out Espanyol in a penalty shoot out in Barcelona after the home and away matches both ended 1-1. Alvaro Giménez headed in a twentieth minute corner to put the visitors in front, and although Hernán Pérez connected with a cross from fellow substitute Aarón Martín to level the scores after the restart, the visitors held on through extra time to take the tie to penalties. Oscar Plano and Gerard Moreno both missed their spot kicks, but when Jurado fired the last one wide the cup giant killers had added another first division club to their list. They will join Córdoba in the fifth round together with fourteen first division clubs, including Celta, who beat UCAM Murcia 1-0 for the second time in three weeks. Marcelo Díaz got the only goal with a well struck free kick on the half hour mark, a first defeat for new coach Francisco, who took over from José María Salmerón a few days ago.

Alavés also repeated their first leg result, a 3-0 victory over Nàstic taking the Vitoria based team in to the last sixteen for the first time in ten years. Edgar started things off in the twelfth minute, and Rubén Sobrino added a second on the half hour mark from the penalty spot when he was brought down by Kakabadze, the defender being sent off after picking up a second booking for the foul. And with half time approaching Krsticic rounded things off, beating Reina with a shot from outside of the area. Athletic Bilbao will also be in Friday’s draw after they beat Racing Santander 3-0,Etxeita heading the opener with a quarter of an hour gone, and Raúl García and Williams adding two more after the interval. (22.12.16)

Six more matches on Wednesday, Sevilla and Barcelona registering huge wins against sides from the lower ranks. Sevilla thrashed Formentera (the only remaining team from the regional third division) by a massive 9-1 on the night and 14-2 on aggregate, goals by Ganso, Vietto, Ben Yedder, Sarabia and two more from Vietto putting them six up at the break. Ben Yedder got the seventh after the restart, and although Gabri did score for the Balearic Islanders, Sarabia added an eighth and Ben Yedder also completed a hat-trick in the dying minutes. Barcelona coach Luis Enrique allowed Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar to start their Christmas holidays early despite a 1-1 draw in the first leg against Hércules, but thankfully for him they weren’t needed as the Catalans ran out 7-0 winners in the Nou Camp. Digne got his first goal for the club to start things off with eight minutes to go to the break, and Rakitic made it two from the penalty spot after Arda Turan was brought down in the area on the stroke of half time. Rafinha fired home a third after the restart, and Turan helped himself to a hat-trick after that, with Paco Alcácer finally opening his account (albeit from a marginally offside position) in-between.

The other four games were all between first division clubs, Osasuna and Deportivo both overturning 1-0 defeats from the first leg to go through to the last sixteen. Osasuna won 2-0 against Granada in a battle between La Liga’s bottom two clubs, Alex Berenguer and Jaime Romero getting the goals after the interval to give new coach Joaquín Caparrós his first win after six weeks in charge. And Deportivo beat Betis 3-1, Arribas, Luisinho and Babel all finding the net in the first hour before Piccini replied for the Andalusians. Joselu missed a chance to wrap things up when he fired a penalty wide after Babel was fouled in the area by Piccini, and only a good save by Rubén from substitute Rubén Castro prevented the visitors from winning it late on.

Elsewhere Eibar and Valencia both added to first leg away victories to win again at home and knock-out their respective first division opponents. Eibar beat Sporting Gijón 3-1, with Kike García scoring in the first minute of the first and second halves, and Adrián González latching on to Rivera’s pass to beat Diego Mariño on the stroke of half time. Youngster Rubén Sánchez headed one back from a Douglas cross with a couple of minutes to go, but the goal came too late to change the result. Valencia meanwhile won 2-1 against Leganés, their third victory against the Madrid based side this season. Rodrigo hit the woodwork twice before opening the scoring with ten minutes to go to the break, but Machís equalized soon after the restart, and the visitors caused a few problems for Jaume Domenech and his defence before Rodrigo got his second of the evening neat the end. (21.12.16)

The second leg cup ties took place during the week before the Christmas break, with five more teams joining the already qualified Real Madrid in Friday’s fifth round draw after they won through on Tuesday evening. Córdoba are the only one of the lower ranked sides to make it through so far though, the Andalusians adding to their 2-0 victory from three weeks’ ago with a high scoring 3-4 win at Málaga. Sandro twice put the home team in front, but Piovaccari levelled it both times before the break. Midway through the second half Pedro Ríos won a penalty off Llorente which he himself converted at the second attempt, and although Michael Santos made it all square again, Ríos headed the winner from a Moha Traoré cross near the end.

Atlético Madrid had no problems seeing off Guijuelo, strikes by Gaitán, Correa and Juanfran in the opening half hour adding to the six from the first leg. Referee Estrada Fernández rather harshly sent off visiting defender Raúl Ruiz for protesting, and after Fernando Torres added a fourth, Simeone ordered his side to sit back in the second half, allowing Pino to get a late consolation for the Salamanca based side. Las Palmas were given a fright though by Huesca before beating the second division team 2-1, the visitors just a goal away from forcing extra time after the 2-2 draw in the Alcoraz stadium. Mateo García gave the Canary Islanders an early lead, and Asdrúbal added a second on the hour mark. Kilian got one back though in injury time, and there were some nervous moments before the final whistle.

Elsewhere Villarreal and Real Sociedad cruised through despite drawing their second leg matches, both having clocked up comfortable wins in their first leg ties. Villarreal drew 1-1 against Toledo, Samu Villa giving the second division B team a brief hope with the opener at the start of the second half, but Pato picking up a Jonathan Dos Santos assist to kill things off four minutes later. And Real Sociedad also drew 1-1 against Valladolid, Juanmi heading them in to the lead from Yuri’s centre in the twelfth minute before Mikel González put through his own net on the stroke of half time. (20.12.16)

Real Madrid are the first team through to the fifth round of the cup after they thrashed Cultural Leonesa 6-1 on Wednesday. Madrid’s ties were brought forward to allow them to play in the Club World Cup next month, and they cruised through 13-2 on aggregate despite resting most of their first choice players for Saturday’s “clásico”. Mariano helped himself to a hat-trick, the first with only a minute on the clock after Asensio won the ball off a defender. James headed a second from Carvajal’s cross, and Mariano got his second of the evening from another Carvajal assist close to half time. Before the break though Yeray got one back with a fierce shot past Kiko Casilla, but Zidane brought on his son Enzo for his first team debut at the interval, and he combined with Odegaard and Mariano to make it four with a low shot past Leandro a few minutes later. With three minutes to go Mariano headed in Tejero’s cross for his third, and a couple of minutes later Morgado turned Nacho’s centre past his own keeper to complete the scoring. (30.11.16)