Copa del Rey

Fifth round, second leg

Real Madrid, Celta and Eibar all went in to Thursday’s second leg ties with three goal leads from last week, and all three qualified comfortably for Friday’s quarter final draw. Real Madrid were already 3-0 up against Sevilla (who they visit again in the league at the weekend), and although Danilo headed a long Sarabia cross in to his own net early on to give the Andalusians some hope, Marco Asensio ran through from his own half to level the scores soon after the break. New signing Jovetic restored the lead, turning in Escudero’s cross past Kiko Casilla within ten minutes of making his debut, and Iborra got a third after Casilla and Nacho failed to clear Nasri’s cross. However with seven minutes to go Sergio Ramos converted a penalty for a foul by Kranevitter on Casemiro, and with the game in injury time Benzema ran through to make it 3-3 with a shot which deflected in off another new boy Lenglet. The game was already over before that, but the strike meant that Zidane’s side extended their unbeaten run to 40 games, beating the previous record set by Luis Enrique’s Barcelona.

Celta had no problems seeing off Valencia, a 2-1 win in a rainy Balaidos stadium making it 6-2 on aggregate. The Galicians had the better chances in the first half, Señé going close a couple of times, and Sisto and Rossi testing Jaume Domenech, and Rossi gave them the lead with a long shot past the visiting keeper on the hour mark. Two minutes later Vinicius Araujo (making his first appearance after being brought back to the club this winter) made it all square after Cabral gave the ball away to Fede Cartabia, but the result was already out of the Ches’ reach, and with the game in the third minutes of time added on Sisto rounded things off with a well struck free kick in.

Eibar meanwhile played out a dull 0-0 draw against neighbours Osasuna to make it in to the last eight for the first time in their history. The visitors lost Nauzet to an injury at the end of the first half after he clashed with Nano. However with both sides packed with reserve players neither he, his replacement Mario, nor their opposite number Riesgo, had a real save to make all night, and only a couple of second half shots over the top by Fran Rico and Bebé came anywhere near to breaking the deadlock. (12.01.17)

Defending champions Barcelona qualified for the quarter finals after they beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 on Wednesday night. Luis Suárez had a strike ruled out for a non-existent offside before he opened the scoring with a volley from Neymar’s cross. Two minutes in to the second half Neymar made it two from the penalty spot after he was brought down by Bóveda, but just four minutes later Saborit levelled the tie with a header from Elustondo’s cross. Messi fired a free kick past Iraizoz though a few minutes later, and Neymar, Luis Suárez and Denis Suárez all missed chances to extend the lead later on.

Real Sociedad are also in to the last eight after a 1-1 draw at Villarreal, Oyarzabal adding to the 3-1 scoreline from the first leg with an angled shot past Asenjo after Zaldúa’s cross fell to him with a quarter of an hour gone. Samu Castillejo got the ball in the net only for the strike to be ruled out for an incorrect offside decision, and Santos Borré fired an angled shot against the post a few minutes later. With the first half coming to a close Roberto Soriano equalized after Bruno’s free kick came back off the post, but the visitors closed up shop after that, and any hope of a comeback ended when Sansone was sent off for a tackle from behind on Aritz Elustondo near the end.

Alavés go through on the away goal rule after they too drew 1-1 against Deportivo, the first leg in the Riazor stadium having ended 2-2. Marlos Moreno hit the post for the visitors midway through the first half, but just before the break an effort from Christian Santos came back off the bar, and Edgar picked up the rebound to give the locals the lead. Two minutes after the restart though Theo Hernández was sent off for a second bookable offence, and with an hour on the clock Arribas headed in a Çolak corner to make it all square. The Galicians pushed forward after that, but with the game coming to an end Ortolá produced the save of the night from Joselu to ensure his team’s place in the next round.

Elsewhere Alcorcón won through in the battle between the two remaining second division sides, a 1-2 win against Córdoba in the Arcangel stadium taking the Madrid based side in to the quarter finals for the first time ever. Piovaccari gave the hosts an early lead after intercepting a bad pass from Elgezabal and running through to beat Dani Jiménez, but some four minutes in to the second half David Rodríguez scored a vital away goal after Alvaro Rey won the ball off Luso. With the first leg ending without goals, that meant that the Andalusians had to score twice, but midway through the second half Iván Alejo scored a second for the visitors after Rodríguez played on a long clearance, and Rey missed a chance to make it three before Bijimine fired a shot over the top in the dying minutes. (11.01.17)

Atlético Madrid are the first team through to the quarter finals of the cup after they knocked out Las Palmas on Tuesday evening, although the Canary Islanders were just a goal away from overturning the result after they beat their hosts 2-3 in the second leg match. With a two goal advantage from a week ago, the locals were clear favourites to go through, and when Griezmann connected with Gaitán’s cross to open the scoring early on in the second half the tied appeared to be all over. However Livaja ran through to beat Moyà and make it all square, and although Correa restored the lead for the locals with an angled shot under Lizoain, Mateo García crossed in for Livaja to equalize and then scored a third himself from Viera’s centre to set up a nail biting last couple of minutes. (10.01.17)