Thaindian News

Madrid, Jan 26 (IANS) Athletic Club Bilbao qualified for the semifinals of the Spanish Copa del Rey football competition with a 1-0 win away to Mallorca.

Ivan Ramis’ own goal 15 minutes from time gave Athletic a 3-0 aggregate win which set up a semifinal clash between the Basque side and third tier (Segunda B) club Mirandes, who knocked Espanyol out of the competition Tuesday.

Athletic coach Marcelo Bielsa welcomed Jon Aurtenetxe back into his side and fielded the same team which had won the first leg in Bilbao 2-0, Xinhua reported Wednesday.

With the Basque side holding the advantage they tried to maintain possession of the ball and let the clock tick down as much as possible while Mallorca looked to the pace of Alvaro Gimenez and Alejandro Alfaro on the counter-attack.

That speed gave Mallorca the first chance of the game as Tomer Hemed saw a shot blocked on the turn, before Iker Muniain wasted a chance for Athletic following a defensive error as the game began to open up midway through the half.

The ball bounced through for the striker, whose shot was at a comfortable height for Mallorca keeper Juan Calatayud.

Calatayud produced a fine save to deny Ander Herrera, before Muniain left the field injured to be replaced by Gaizka Toquero.

The first half ended with Athletic having enjoyed 65 percent of the ball, but with the tie still to be decided.

The second half saw Mallorca trying to take the match to Athletic, but despite all of their efforts, they were unable to create any clear cut chances and the tie was decided in unfortunate style 15 minutes from time.

Mallorca central defender Ivan Ramis sent a back-pass to Calatayud only for the ball to bounce badly just as the keeper aimed to kick the ball out, leaving the keeper helpless as it rolled into the net.

The goal left Mallorca needing four goals to qualify and virtually ended the tie, or at least that was how the home fans saw it as they formed queues towards the exit.