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Copa del Rey

Fourth round, second leg

The cup has already ended for all of the lower division sides after the top flight teams won through again on Thursday, the first time in six years that no lower ranked teams have made it through to the fifth round. L’Hospitalet did put up a brave battle against Atlético Madrid though, the second division B side drawing 2-2 in the Calderón stadium, although the 0-3 result from the first leg gave the Catalans little chance of depriving Simeone’s team from a fifth round meeting with city rivals Real Madrid. Mandzukic made it even more difficult for them when he steered a shot past Craviotto after Mario’s shot deflected to him, but Alcaraz made it all square with a shot which looped in off Saúl Ñíguez midway through the second half. Mandzukic headed in Koke’s cross a few minutes later, but Alcaraz scored a spectacular second with a long shot in off the crossbar, and only a full stretch save by Oblak stopped young substitute Keita from scoring into his own net in the dying minutes. Alcoyano also gave Athletic Bilbao a bit of a fright, a 1-0 victory taking the Basque side through after a 1-1 draw in the first leg two weeks’ ago. Zabal had to save a couple of times from Guillermo early on, and Viguera had a shot cleared off the line by Mario with the keeper beaten. And later on in the first half Viguera scored his second of the tie after picking up Susaeta’s pass to round the keeper and score. Zabal did well to keep out a Laporte free kick, and San José headed a good chance wide after the break, but Carlos Salvador came close to taking the tie into extra time when he curled a shot just wide of the mark near the end.

Elche only just scraped through against Valladolid as well, Adrián González giving the locals an early lead after Cristian Herrera and Coro combined to set him up, but the visitors just an away goal away from overturning the result after the first leg finished without goals. Tyton in fact had to save from Oscar Díaz and Omar Ramos, and Timor saw an effort go just wide of the post, but Fran Escribá’s side survived to go through to a lucrative fifth round tie against Barcelona. One other tie between first division sides on Thursday, Málaga getting the better of Deportivo for the third time in ten days after beating the Galicians 4-1 in the Rosaleda stadium. All the goals came after the break, Santa Cruz (probably playing his last game before moving to Mexico) opening the scoring after Lopo could only head a long ball in to his path. Postiga levelled the tie soon afterwards with an angled shot after latching on to Isaac Cuenca’s through ball, but just two minutes later Recio restored the lead after a loose ball fell to him on the edge of the area, and Santa Cruz made it three with a glancing header from Amrabat’s cross. Ochoa had to be at his best to keep out Cuenca a few minutes later, but with the game in injury time Lux pushed a shot from Amrabat on to the crossbar, and Camacho was on hand to turn the ball in to the net. Javi Gracia’s team meet Levante in the next round, and with the big three on the other side of the draw they have a serious chance of making it to the final this year. (18.12.14)

Six more games on Wednesday, with first division teams coming out on top in all. Albacete were in fact the only lower ranked side who came close to qualifying, the Manchegans holding Levante to a 0-0 draw in Valencia, but going out on the away goal rule after the first leg ended 1-1. Lucas Alcaraz put out a line-up packed with lesser used players, but his side had the better chances in the first half, Rubén García hitting the post in the opening minutes and having a penalty appeal turned down when he was brought down by Nuñez. However the Manchegans could have won it after the restart, in particular when César Díaz headed a corner against the post with Jesús beaten. Cádiz meanwhile resisted for a bit at Villarreal before losing 3-0 in the battle between the two “Yellow Submarines”, although the 1-2 defeat in the first leg meant they had an uphill battle. Kike López and Migue García went close though for the Andalusians, but some ten minutes in to the second half Trigueros converted a penalty after Kike brought down Jaume Costa in the area. Visiting keeper Ricky Alonso had to keep out Giovani a couple of times after that, but two strikes by Gerard Moreno wrapped things up, the first from a Moi Gómez centre, and the second with a header from Jaume Costa’s cross. .

Oviedo came in to their match at Real Sociedad with hope following the 0-0 draw from two weeks ago, but a goal in each half by Finnbogason gave David Moyes’ team a 2-0 win in the end. The Icelandic striker had not scored at all since joining the club in the summer, and both he and Xabi Prieto came up against keeper Gorka Magunazelaia in the opening minutes. Señé went close at the other end, but with just under half an hour gone Finnbogason got on the end of a Hervías cross to turn the ball in to the net. Both teams had chances after that, but some seventeen minutes in to the second half Finnbogason put the result beyond doubt, turning a shot past Gorka after the keeper could only block a shot by Elustondo. Elsewhere Alavés went down 3-0 on aggregate to Espanyol, the Catalans winning 1-0 on the night after their two goal victory a fortnight ago. Despotovic caused some problems for the local defence early on, and Goitia kept out Stuani and Lanzarote later on in the first half. However substitutes Montañés and Jairo combined midway through the second half for Jairo to head in what was to prove the only goal, and Sergio González’s side closed up shop after that to go through to a fifth round meeting with Valencia.

The other two matches on Wednesday were all first-division ties, Getafe building on the three goals they scored against Eibar in the first leg with a 1-2 victory in the Ipurúa stadium. Any hopes the Basque side had ended when Vigaray ran through from midfield to beat Irazusta, a goal which Maradona or Messi would have been proud of, and Diego Castro made it two after cutting in from the left to fire a spectacular shot wide of the keeper. Piovaccari got one back from the penalty spot after Velázquez tripped him up in the area early on in the second half, but the locals were never going to get anywhere near the five more they needed to turn things around after that. Granada also went through after drawing 1-1 at regional neighbours Córdoba, the one goal victory from the first leg giving them the edge they needed to set up a next round tie against another of their local rivals Sevilla. A thick fog though made it difficult for television cameras to follow, but Florín headed the locals into the lead in the fifth minute after Oier failed to hold on to a long ball into the area, the first goal they had scored in four games. However Mainz scored a vital away goal on the hour mark, and Caparrós’s side held on despite having Javi Márquez sent off for a hard tackle on an opponent with a quarter of the game still to go. (17.12.14)

An exciting start to this week’s cup ties, with Valencia edging through to the next round after drawing 4-4 against Rayo Vallecano. The Ches appeared to have things tied up when Paco Alcácer put them ahead early on after Rodrigo’s shot came back off the post, building on the 1-2 victory in the first leg. But Rayo came back with three goals before half time, Jozabed heading in a wide free kick, Pozuelo beating Yoel with a shot on the turn and Jonathan Pereira having a strike ruled out for a questionable offside before running through to score the third. Morcillo deflected Piatti’s cross in to his own net at the start of the second half, but Embarba connected with Pereira’s cross to restore the two goal cushion a few minutes later. Soon afterwards though Alcácer got his second, this time after Piatti’s shot hit the upright, and Rodrigo levelled it under controversial circumstances, the referee waving away appeals for a possible foul by Mustafi on keeper Cristian Alvarez in the build up. The Ches had to hold on for the last ten minutes however after having Rodrigo sent off for a hard tackle on an opponent.

Later in the evening Barcelona smashed second division B side Huesca 8-1 to set up a next round tie against Valladolid or Elche. In the absence of the usual front three, Pedro helped himself to a first half hat-trick, the first a header into the roof of the net from Munir’s cross and the second after Iniesta passed over the top of the defence. Before that Esnaider had headed against the upright for the visitors, but Sergi Roberto turned Montoya’s cross past Dani Jiménez and then set up Iniesta for a fourth, and Pedro made it five with an impressive shot from left of the area just before the break. Midway through the second half Adriano got his name on the scoresheet after picking up a pass from Samper, and Adama Traoré scored his first official goal for the A team after running through to beat Jiménez with a low shot. Soon afterwards Rafinha put Sandro through for him to fire the eighth past the keeper, and with five minutes to go Carlos David headed a corner past Masip to at least give the travelling fans something to cheer about.

Celta go through as well after a last minute 3-1 victory over Las Palmas. Larrivey opened the scoring in the twentieth minute, forcing a shot past Raúl Lizaoin after Alex López’s deflected cross fell to him, and Santi Mina made it two after latching on to Nolito’s pass early on in the second half. Nauzet headed David Simón cross past Rubén Blanco to level the tie though, and despite having Aythami sent off for a second bookable offence, Araujo came close to equalizing for the Canary Islanders. However with extra time looming Orellana fired an angled shot wide of the keeper to set up a fifth round tie against Athletic Bilbao or Alcoyano. Elsewhere Almería had few problems seeing off Betis, a 2-1 victory on the night adding to the 3-4 win from the first leg. Michel Macedo got the first with just under an hour gone after Verza set him up, and Jonathan Zongo made it two with a long shot over the head of Dani Giménez from just over the half-way line. Perquis got one back following a corner and Rubén Castro struck a last minute penalty against the crossbar after Julián brought down Jorge Molina, but by then there was no way back for the visitors, who were under the guidance of new coach Juan Ignacio Martínez for the first time. (16.12.14)

Sevilla join Real Madrid in the fifth round of the cup after beating Sabadell 5-1 in their second leg match on Wednesday. The tie was already over as a contest following the 1-6 drubbing in the first leg, but the Catalans (with new coach Alex García on the bench for the first time) did actually take the lead, Collantes firing a twentieth minute penalty past Sergio Rico after Kolo pulled him back in the area. Before half time though Gameiro levelled it with a shot on the turn after picking up a deflected pass from Denis Suárez, and with an hour or so on the clock Iago Aspas repeated his first leg hat-trick with another three goals in only four minutes, the first after Reyes laid the ball back to him, the second with an angled lob over Nauzet, and the third after controlling a high pass from Gameiro. Deulofeu rounded off the scoring with ten minutes to go on a rapid counter-attack, and Sevilla cruise though with a massive 11-2 aggregate score. (03.12.14)

Real Madrid are the first team through to the last sixteen of the competition after they beat second division B side Cornellà 5-0 on Tuesday, the tie brought forward by two weeks to allow them to participate in the Club World Cup later this month. Already 1-4 up from the first leg, Ancelotti put out a line-up packed with lesser used players and the odd junior. For the visitors though this was their cup final, and they had a chance to take the lead early on when Arbeloa brought down Boniquet in the area. However the forward fired his spot kick over Pacheco’s crossbar, and just a minute later Isco put James through for him to lift a shot over keeper Iñigo. The two changed roles with just over half an hour gone for Isco to score a second, and a minute after that James latched on to Chicharito’s back-heel pass to curl a third past the daytime school worker. After the restart Madrid went four up when Borja López deflected the ball in to his own net after a shot by Chicharito came down off the bar, and Jesé came on for his first appearance following a nine month injury lay-off to latch on to Isco’s through ball and make it five. (02.12.14)