Copa del Rey

Fourth round, first leg

The sporting administrative tribunal (TAD) turned down Real Madrid’s appeal to have the ban put on hold, and although the court will not give a definitive ruling pending the receipt of further documentation, Wednesday’s second leg tie will not take place. Madrid are therefore returning the money to fans who purchased tickets. (11.12.15)

The disciplinary committee confirmed this afternoon that Real Madrid have been thrown out of the competition for fielding an ineligible player, and the tie has been awarded to Cádiz by a 3-0 scoreline. Madrid have two appeals left, one to the disciplinary appeals committee early next week, and a second one to the sporting tribunal next Friday, but if neither prevails then the second leg will not take place, and the first division club will have to compensate their oppoents for loss of earnings. (04.12.15)

Three of the top flight sides were beaten by second division opposition on Thursday, Eibar in particular close to being eliminated after losing 3-0 at Ponferradina. Djordjevic caught out Irureta with a shot from a wide angle to put the locals in front in the eleventh minute, Jebor headed the second following Khomchenovskiy’s corner midway through the first half, and Khomchenovskiy himself made it three from Caiado’s pass early on in the second half. Villarreal lost 3-2 at Huesca as well, although in their case they will be hoping to overturn the results in the second leg in a fortnight’s time. Luis Fernández connected with a Quintero assist to give the locals the lead in the third minute, and although Nahuel equalized at the start of the second half with a long cross which flew over the head of Oscar Whalley, Fran Mérida restored the lead from the penalty spot after Musacchio fouled Camacho inside the area. Bakambu levelled it again after Trashorras put him through, but with a quarter of an hour to go Machis volleyed a shot past Barbosa to give his team a morale-boosting victory.

Málaga meanwhile fell to a 2-1 defeat at Mirandés, a result which puts more pressure on coach Javi Gracia. Tighadouni hit the bar for the visitors early on, but with ten minutes to go to the break Alex García fired a shot past Ochoa to put the home side ahead. Santa Cruz signalled his return to the line up with the equalizing goal, turning the rebound past Raúl Fernández after his header came back off the post, but midway through the second half substitute Lago Junior forced the winner past the Mexican keeper. Athletic Bilbao though are close to qualifying for the last sixteen after a 0-2 victory at Linense earlier in the evening, their eighth win in nine matches. Both goals came in the first twenty minutes, Kike Sola intercepting a poor back pass by Forner to poke a shot past Lolo Soler, and Laporte heading in a wide Iturraspe free kick.

The two remaining all-first division ties are both in the balance though after Thursday’s games. Las Palmas came from a goal down to beat Real Sociedad 2-1, Bruma taking advantage of some slack defending to put the Basque side into the lead in the eleventh minute. With half an hour gone though the locals were awarded a penalty when Diego Reyes brought down Asdrúbal, and although Oier saved Asdrúbal’s spot kick, the striker fired the ball back into the net. The visitors had their own penalty soon afterwards when Garrido fouled Chory Castro, but Raúl Lizoain kept out Rubén Pardo’s kick, and Hernán headed the winner from a corner some five minutes in to the second half. Elsewhere Levante and Espanyol drew 1-1, leaving everything pending the return leg in the Cornellà stadium. Substitute Mamadou Sylla got his first goal for the senior side after Salva Sevilla put him through on the hour mark, but Roger got on the end of a Xumetra centre to save the draw for the locals late on. (03.12.15)

The big news on Wednesday was the possible elimination of Real Madrid from the competition for including an ineligible player in their line-up at Cádiz. Cheryshev was given a one match cup ban whilst on loan at Villarreal last season, which had to be served out in the first cup tie this season, and as nobody realized this he was given a rare start, and in fact scored the opening goal after controlling a long pass from James. Isco added two more after the interval, the first from Casemiro’s long pass, and the second with a shot which looped in off a defender following another assist from James. and Márquez got a late consolation for a 1-3 final scoreline. However if Cádiz’s appeal is upheld, Madrid will be thrown out and the second leg will not take place.

Elsewhere though there were no more surprises, first division sides winning away in the four ties which took place against lower ranked opposition. Valencia had to come back from behind though before beating Barakaldo 1-3, Arroyo giving the Basque team an early lead following a corner. The Ches had announced that morning that Gary Neville would be replacing Nuno after he resigned at the weekend, but in his absence his brother Phil was temporarily in charge together with B team coach Voro, and they saw Cancelo equalize on a quick counter-attack three minutes later. After the break substitute Gayà made it two, and with three minutes to go local keeper Valens was sent off for bringing down Enzo Pérez in the area, and with outfield player Iker Hernández in goal, Dani Parejo slotted home the resulting penalty. Sevilla meanwhile had few problems seeing off UD Logroñés, Emery’s side running out 0-3 winners in the end. Coke headed the opener from a Krohn-Dehli corner with twelve minutes gone, and Krohn-Dehli himself made it two before the break after the defence failed to clear Coke’s cross. And with just under an hour gone Immobile scrambled home the third to virtually ensure the Andalusians a place in the next round.

Both Galicians sides also clocked up good wins, Celta beating Almería 1-3 with two first half goals by Iago Aspas, both from Pablo Hernández assists. Pozo ran through to get one back though before the break, and Puertas came close to levelling it, but Guidetti put the result beyond their reach with a third goal on a quick breakaway with a quarter of an hour to go. Deportivo though had more work to do before defeating Llagostera 2-1, Juanjo putting the locals in front from a Jordi free kick midway through the first half. Fede Cartabia got on the end of a Cardoso centre on the hour mark to make it all square though, and although Luisinho was sent off for a second bookable offence soon afterwards, Oriol Riera (who had missed several chances early on) fired home the winner with twenty minutes left on the clock.

Two all-first division ties on Wednesday night as well, Rayo Vallecano winning 2-0 against neighbours Getafe, and Betis beating Sporting Gijón by the same scoreline. Both Rayo’s goals came in the first half, Lass picking up a Trashorras pass and cutting in to fire a shot past Megyeri for the opener, and Bebé setting up Ebert for the second a few minutes later. New keeper Yoel had to save from Pedro León late on though, and there was a moment of tension when Lass and his coach came to blows after the winger complained about being substituted. Betis boss Pepe Mel finally gave a run out to the ostracized Vadillo, and he made his claim for more regular football volleying a Petros cross past Alberto just two minutes into the second half. And with the game in injury time Vargas, also back in the side after a long injury lay-off, fired in the second to give his team the edge for the second leg. (02.12.15)

Atlético Madrid closed in on a place in the last sixteen after coming from behind to beat Reus 1-2 on Tuesday evening. The Catalans are currently top of their regional group in the second division B, and an enthusiastic crowd saw their team take the lead when Fran latched on to a Fernando Rodríguez assist to beat Moyà with half an hour on the clock. However just six minutes later Vietto headed an Oliver Torres cross past Edgar Badía to level the scores, and midway through the second half Saúl Ñíguez looped a header over the keeper from Koke’s corner to give the visitors the win. Later in the evening Granada lost 2-1 at Leganés, although a late goal by Fran Rico following a Rochina corner left the tie in the balance. Guillermo gave the Madrid based team the lead after Soriano put him through with only nine minutes gone, and a few minutes later Rubén Pérez got himself sent off for taking out Rubén Péña with a high rugby tackle. Shortly before the break Omar Ramos made it two with a cross-come-shot which went over the head of Kelava, but Rico’s goal saved the day for the Andalusians. (01.12.15)

A depleted Barcelona line-up made up of reserves and B team players could only draw 0-0 at second division B side Villanovense in their first leg tie, although they will be expected to make it through to the next round when the two teams meet again in the Nou Camp later this year. The fixture was brought forward by six weeks or so to free up time for Barça’s participation in the Club World Cup in December, and although Luis Enrique left all of his star players at home, the population of the small town of Villanova de la Serena in Extremadura turned out en masse. In the end though it was a dull game, Munir and Sandro wasting the best chances for the visitors, and Calatrava hitting the bar for the part-timers shortly before the break. The fans didn’t mind however, and they cheered their players off the pitch at the end. The record books will show that their boys drew against the reigning European champions! (28.10.15)