Copa Del Rey Round-Up: Espanyol Woes Worsen; Valencia See Double Red

Wed 7 January 2009 (all times local)
20.00 Sevilla 2-1 Deportivo La Coruña
20.00 Sporting Gijón 3-1 Valladolid
20.00 Real Unión 0-1 Real Betis
20.00 Racing Santander 1-1 Valencia
20.00 Poli Ejido 3-2 Espanyol

Sevilla 2-1 Deportivo La Coruña

Amidst rumours of Manolo Jiménez getting the sack should Sevilla lose to Deportivo La Coruña, the home side duly delivered the goods, courtesy of first-half goals from Luis Fabiano and Freddy Kanouté.

With no UEFA Cup to compete for the Andalucian side lined up much the stronger from the start and their superiority nearly told on a few occasions, as they broke through a dodgy Depor defence.

However, it was a set-piece that eventually gave them the lead, as Fabiano bent a free-kick around the wall from just outside the box.

Sevilla weren't about to rest on their laurels either, and they took a two goal lead in at half-time, as Kanouté bundled in a cross from Jesus Navas.

The second-half continued in much the same vein, with Sevilla dominating proceedings, but despite all the possession and chances, they could not add to their lead.

In fact, Depor gave themselves a lifeline for the return leg as they scored against the run of play with just ten minutes left on the clock.

A brilliant team move resulted in Julián De Guzmán finding Omar Bravo in the box and he made no mistake as he finished from close-range.

Sporting Gijón 3-1 Valladolid

Valladolid might be flying high in La Liga but they were battered in the Copa Del Rey this evening as Sporting Gijón took them apart in the first-half of the match, scoring three times in the process.

David Barral was the main man for the home side as he scored a brilliant first, turning his marker and firing in a shot off the post, and then slid in a second from close-range, following some poor defending from the visiting team.

He could well have won a penalty for his team before half-time too, as he appeared to be tripped whilst chasing the ball, but the referee gave a free-kick the other way.

Nevertheless, Sporting did take a three goal lead in at the half, as Carmelo pounced to drill home a deflected shot from just inside the area.

After the break they seemed to step off the gas a little but still had chances to go ahead further, only to be denied on a few occasions by some good defending and more importantly, good goalkeeping.

There was to be a twist in the tail too, as Valladolid grabbed a crucial away goal in the dying minutes when Jonathan Sesma crossed for Fabián Cannobbio to head home powerfully.

Real Unión 0-1 Real Betis

Real Unión failed to repeat their exploits against Real Madrid in the last round as they were narrowly defeated by Real Betis.

The Primera side took the lead in the first half when Damía slid home after a nice move down the right, and despite some chances, the home team could not find a way back in.

They will no doubt be relatively pleased that they are still in the tie though, and only need to score once at the Manuel Ruiz De Lopera next week to take the match to extra-time.

For Betis it was a disappointing scoreline, bearing in mind they had a reasonably strong side out, and they will need to improve when they return to La Liga this weekend.

Racing Santander 1-1 Valencia

Racing Santander will be disappointed not to be taking anything more than a draw to the Mestalla next week, after dominating Valencia in this bad-tempered encounter, that featured two red cards and a penalty.

The two sendings-off both came in the last ten minutes as first Vicente was dismissed for reacting to an 'off the ball' slap by stamping on Oriol whilst he was on the ground, and then Miguel was given his marching orders for appearing to jump with his knee into a Racing player.

The two players will now miss the match with Villarreal this weekend, and for Miguel it could be worse, as he appeared to nearly head-butt the linesman after squaring up to him, and had to be restrained by Unai Emery on the touchline.

On the field though it was Racing who had the more chances throughout the match, and they even missed a penalty early in the second-half.

Despite their domination though they were the ones who went behind when Gonzalo Colsa nodded a corner into his own net, after some good work from Vicente to earn the set-piece.

It looked as though they would draw level soon into the second period when Miguel was penalised inside the box, and Racing were given a penalty. However, despite sending Renan the wrong way, Ezequiel Garay blasted the spot kick into the bar, and it flew away to safety.

Medhi Lacen soon put things right though, as he bent a lovely free-kick around the wall and into the bottom corner, leaving Renan no chance.

Then, following an even second-half, which had seen both teams presented with half openings, commenced the crazy last ten minutes, which fortunately for Valencia, they did not live to rue by conceding again.

Poli Ejido 3-2 Espanyol

Espanyol's woes were worsened in the Copa Del Rey as they were defeated by Poli Ejido, Villarreal's conquerors in the last round.

In an enthralling match the Catalan side actually took the lead early on thanks to Moisés Hurtado, who headed home from a corner, after some poor goalkeeping.

However, they were pegged back in controversial circumstances, when the referee blew for a penalty, after a handball in the box, that looked hard for the defender to avoid.

Jorge Molina made no mistake from the spot as he blasted past Carlos Kameni though, and not long after Ejido took the lead.

This time it was a well crafted goal on the left flank that resulted in the ball rolling to Julio, who did brilliantly to take it on his right foot and bend it past Kameni into the far corner.

To their credit, Espanyol did not lie down though, and they drew level thanks to a moment of genius from Román, who took one touch inside the box, and then chipped the goalkeeper with brilliant precision.

The goal sparked wild celebrations on the Espanyol bench but the excitement did not last for long, as Ejido replied in equally amazing style.

Chico was the man who picked up the ball in midfield, about 30 yards out, and he drilled a shot across the goal and into the far corner, to send the home fans crazy and give Ejido a decent chance of progressing further.

James Walker-Roberts, Goal.com