Real Madrid reach quarterfinal of Copa del Rey
January 11th, 2012 - 7:57 pm ICT by IANS ( Leave a comment )Madrid, Jan 11 (IANS) Real Madrid booked a place in the quarterfinals of the Spanish Copa del Rey thanks to a 1-0 win away to Malaga.
The win came courtesy a Karim Benzema goal following a dreadful error from Malaga keeper. Willy Caballero gave Real Madrid a 4-2 aggregate win and set up a quarterfinal tie against FC Barcelona, who defended a 4-0 first leg lead away to Osasuna Wednesday.
The first half saw Malaga, who only needed a 1-0 win to qualify, start on top and Real Madrid were handicapped by another poor display from Kaka and an injury to Sami Khedira, who had to be replaced by compatriot Mesut Ozil.
Kaka didn’t reappear for the second half with Marcelo taking his place on the wing and Real Madrid improved with longer spells of possession that began to tire out the home side.
Gonzalo Higuain had a goal correctly ruled offside midway through the half and moments later he was replaced by Benzema.
The French striker needed just a couple of minutes to put his side ahead, although it needed a horrific error from Malaga keeper Caballero who allowed a tame shot to pass through his legs and over the goalline.
It was unfortunate for the keeper, who moments earlier had made a fine save to deny Cristiano Ronaldo, but the goal virtually booked Madrid’s place in the quarterfinals, despite Malaga’s efforts in the closing minutes.
Third tier (Segunda B) side, Mirandes caused the Cup upset of the day by knocking La Liga strugglers Racing Santander out of the tournament.
Mirandes drew 1-1 in the return leg, thanks to a Pablo Infante (who holds a full time job in a bank) penalty which cancelled out Pedro Munitis’ opener for Racing. The result gave Mirandes a 3-1 aggregate triumph as Racing became the second La liga side after Villarreal to be knocked out by the minnows.
The evening kicked off with Mallorca producing a magnificent performance to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg with a spectacular 6-1 win.
Chori Castro and Tomer Hemed each scored twice for the home side, after Real Sociedad appeared to seal their qualification with an early goal from Diego Ifran that left Mallorca needing to score at least four goals to qualify.
Mallorca responded magnificently with four goals in seven minutes to turn the tie around with Alejandro Alfaro and Jose Nunes scoring the other goals for Mallorca, who will now face either Athletic Club or Albacete in the last eight.
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- Bilbao cruise into final of Copa del Rey - Feb 08, 2012
- Barcelona-Real Madrid quarter-final clash likely - Dec 24, 2011
- Barcelona win easy in La Liga, Real maintain 10-point lead - Feb 20, 2012
- Real Madrid face tough test in Malaga - Oct 21, 2011
- Easy win for Real Madrid against 10-man Racing - Feb 19, 2012
- Barca continue dominance over Real with Bernabeu win - Jan 19, 2012
- Real Madrid register narrow win in Getafe - Feb 05, 2012
- Real, Barcelona win ahead of Clasico - Dec 05, 2011
- Bilbao reach Copa del Rey semis - Jan 26, 2012
- Real Madrid top La Liga as Barcelona held - Oct 23, 2011
- Real Madrid steer seven points clear of Barcelona - Jan 29, 2012
Tags: b side, compatriot, copa del rey, fc barcelona, full time job, goalline, karim benzema, keeper willy, khedira, magnificent performance, minnows, offside, osasuna, pedro munitis, quarterfinals, real madrid, return leg, rey madrid, spanish copa del rey, tomer