Leganes make history, Numancia embarrass Real Madrid
Madrid, Jan 11 (IANS) Leganes made history by advancing to the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey, while Real Madrid, who also qualified, were held 2-2 here by second-division side Numancia.
After last reaching the round of 16 in 2000-2001, Leganes are through to the quarters despite losing the second leg 1-2 away to Villarreal, reports Efe.
Leganes, who won the first leg 1-0, grabbed the lead late Wednesday with what turned out to be a decisive away goal from Nabil El Zhar.
Raba equalised for the hosts early in the second half and Denis Cherysev got a second goal for Villarreal in the 88th minute, but it was not enough to deny Leganes.
Real Madrid, who cruised to a 3-0 victory over Numancia in the first leg, came into Wednesday’s contest at the Santiago Bernabeu virtually assured of advancing to the Copa quarterfinals.
Even so, the Blancos were in need of a strong performance to reassure fans dismayed by their heroes’ troubles in La Liga, where the defending champions trail leader Barcelona by 16 points.
Coach Zinedine Zidane rested his starters in favour of subs eager to prove themselves, such as Theo Hernandez, Marco Asensio and Dani Ceballos.
The second-stringers failed to make the most of their chance and the first half ended 1-1, after Lucas Vazquez connected for Real Madrid with a solid header and Guillermo equalised for the visitors just before the break.
The Blancos were not much better in the second half, though Vazquez scored again at the hour mark to make it 2-1 for the home side.
From that point on, however, Numancia dominated play, pulling level at the late on a late goal by Guillermo.
In Wednesday’s other match, Alaves topped Formentera 2-0 to advance 5-1 on aggregate.