Copa del Rey

Fourth round, second leg

No more upsets on Thursday, with all four top flight sides qualifying for the last sixteen. Granada and Villarreal had to overturn first leg defeats though, Peñaranda setting up El-Arabi midway through the second half against Leganés to give the Andalusians a 1-0 victory which took them through on the away goal rule. Villarreal meanwhile won 2-0 against Huesca, Manu Trigueros getting the opener on the half hour mark with a shot which looped in off Iñigo López after Samu Castillejo and Samuel García had both hit the post. After the restart Soldado fired a penalty against the crossbar after Morillas handled in the area, but the ex Real Madrid and Tottenham striker did get his name on the scoresheet after Trigueros put him through, the referee waving away appeals for offside.

Earlier in the evening Atlético Madrid beat second division B side Reus 1-0, although they had more problems than expected finding the net. Visiting keeper Edgar Badía made good saves from Fernando Torres, Koke hit the post with a free kick and Lucas Hernández had a strike incorrectly ruled out after the restart, but in the end Thomas drilled a long shot past the keeper after Siqueira’s cross was only partly cleared some eight minutes in to the second half. Curiously no away side was able to score on Thursday, Celta also winning 1-0 against Almería. With a two goal lead from a fortnight ago, the Galicians were in a confident mood, and Daniel Wass put the result beyond the visitors’ reach with a well struck free kick shortly before the interval. (17.12.15)

A dramatic night of cup football on Wednesday, especially in the Alfonso Pérez Coliseum and at Ipurúa, where Rayo Vallecano and Eibar won through nail-biting ties. Rayo looked to be comfortable after winning the first leg 2-0 against neighbours Getafe, but by half time they were behind, a deflected Pedro León strike, a clever back-heel flick by Vergini, and a third goal by Alvaro Vázquez turning the scoreline around. However Lass got one back at the start of the second half after Manucho laid the ball back for a 3-1result which takes Paco Jémez’s side through on the away goal rule. Eibar meanwhile were trailing 3-0 against Ponferradina from two weeks ago, but the visitors were left with ten men on the half hour mark when Berrocal was sent off. With half time approaching Borja Bastón headed in an Inui corner, and after the restart strikes by Sergi Enrich and Verdi, and a late Arruabarrena penalty after Inui was fouled, made it 4-0 on the night.

One first division side was eliminated though, Málaga losing 0-1 to Mirandés, a team with a history of cup upsets. The Andalusians were already 2-1 behind from the first leg, and Lago Junior swept an Alex García cross past Ochoa to wrap things up after the restart. The result could have been different though had Santa Cruz and Juan Carlos not missed easy chances later on. Elsewhere Las Palmas knocked out Real Sociedad in the only other tie on Wednesday night between first division sides. Willian José built on a 2-1 first leg lead with a header in off the bar from a Nauzet corner shortly before the break, and although Canales got one back for the hosts after the restart with a shot from outside of the area, the Basque side’s challenge ended when keeper Oier was sent off for bringing down Asdrúbal outside of the area with two minutes to go.

No problems however for Athletic Bilbao and Valencia against third level opposition, the Basque side thrashing Linares 6-0, and the Ches winning 2-0 against Barakaldo, De Marcos opened the scoring for Athletic early on after an Eraso corner came out to him, and Eraso himself made it two some four minutes after the interval. Etxeita made it three following another Eraso corner, and Kike Sola added the fourth from Balenziaga’s cross. Midway through the second half Raúl García scored the fifth from a Mikel Rico free kick, and Rico himself completed the scoring after Eraso set him up near the end. Valencia were already two goals in front from the first leg, and Santi Mina extended the lead in the seventh minute with a header after Alejandro could only push out a shot from Piatti. And on the half hour mark Negredo celebrated his return to the starting line up with the second goal after combining with André Gomes before poking a shot past the keeper. (16.12.15)

Four second-leg ties to start things off on Tuesday evening, with both Sevilla based sides qualifying for the last sixteen. Betis had a few problems though despite going into their match at Sporting Gijón with a two goal advantage, the Asturians almost edging it before late goals by Ricky Van Wolfswinkel and Alvaro Cejudo made it 3-3 on the night. Van Wolfswinkel had already cancelled out an early Bernardo header after Van der Vaart put him clear, but Halilovic scored twice after the restart, the first with an angled shot and the second from the penalty spot after N’Diaye handled in the area, to give the locals a brief hope of going through. Sevilla though cruised through against UD Logroñés, a strike by Immobile from an Iborra assist and a Reyes free kick before the break giving them a 2-0 win and a 5-0 aggregate scoreline, and that despite having Iborra sent off near the end for a hard tackle on an opponent.

Deportivo meanwhile were defending a 1-2 result from their first leg against Llagostera, and although Juan Domínguez added to their lead with a header from a Luis Alberto corner after the break, a Javi López penalty following a foul by Domínguez on Querol took the Catalans to within a goal of taking the tie into extra time. Elsewhere Espanyol made it through after beating Levante 2-1, a good start for new coach Galca, who took over from Sergio González only the day before. The score at half time though was 1-1, the same as the first leg, and also the weekend league game between the two sides, with Verza getting the opener from a free kick, and Burgui replying for the hosts after picking up a return pass from Marco Asensio. However Caicedo finally broke the deadlock after Víctor Sánchez set him up soon after the restart, and the Ecuadorian striker could have added to the lead after that had Diego Mariño not kept him out.

The four winners plus the ten who qualify in the next two days will be joined in Friday’s draw by Barcelona, who knocked out Villanovense a couple of weeks ago, and second division B club Cádiz, who were awarded their tie after Real Madrid were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player in their first leg game . An appeal by Madrid to the top sporting body is still pending, although a decision will not be made until after the fifth round pairings have been decided, and all indications are that this will be rejected. (15.12.15)

Barcelona are the first team through to the last sixteen after a 6-1 victory over Villanovense on Wednesday evening. The second leg tie was brought forward to this week to free up time for Barça to take part in the Club World Cup, and despite the 0-0 result in the first leg Luis Enrique once again put out a line-up packed with reserves and B team players (albeit with Iniesta, Neymar and Luis Suárez on the bench just in case). The big names weren’t needed in the end though, Dani Alves starting things off early on with a long shot through the hands of Fuentes, and Sandro adding a second after the visiting keeper gifted him the ball. Juanfran Guarnido got one back on the half hour mark with a long shot past Masip to give the second division B side a brief hope (and also to earn a leg of ham from a sponsor!), but just two minutes later youngster Aitor put Sandro through for the third. After the restart Munir headed in a Mathieu cross, and Sandro completed his hat-trick with twenty minutes to go after Samper’s cross was only cleared to him. A few minutes later Munir got his second of the night after latching on to Sandro’s back-heel pass, and although Mathieu limped off soon afterwards, Luis Enrique decided to play out the last few minutes with ten men rather than risk an injury to one of his precious substitutes. (02.12.15)