Celta Girona

Copa del Rey Round-Up: Girona cruise through, a tight Basque derby and Celta Vigo’s US-Greek connection

After Real Mallorca, Sevilla and Athletic Club made their way through to the Copa del Rey quarter-finals on Tuesday night, six more sides disputed a place in the final eight.

Valencia 1-3 Celta Vigo

Both sides made changes to their teams in midweek, leaving out some of their best players, but it was Celta who proved they had the depth over Los Che, as Rafael Benitez returned to his old club to knock them out.

The game started off with Valencia pushing for the opener, but a five-minute double from Celta put them in control. Following a corner, the ball found its way to Luca de la Torre, who came up with an impudent lopped backheel over the defender on the line to open the scoring. Shortly after, Miguel Rodriguez was brought down, and Greek striker Anastasios Douvikas rolled the ball in the opposite direction to Jaume Domenech.

Los Che got back into it via a VAR-reviewed handball, allowing Pepelu to half the deficit from the spot too. After half-time, it was Valencia who took the initiative, forcing saves from Ivan Villar, and coming close on multiple occasions. Yet as the game travelled towards a climax, Renato Tapia released de la Torre down the left, and the US midfielder found a lovely cross for Douvikas to double his tally. That made it a calmer ending for Celta, who continued their run of scoring three or more goals in each round of the cup this season.

Osasuna 0-2 Real Sociedad

In a game of almost no clear chances, La Real ran out winners in a local derby that was hard-fought. Ante Budimir dragged a shot wide in the first half, and it was only a controversial penalty that saw the deadlock broken in the second. Osasuna protested furiously and were given hope when the referee went to the VAR screeen – it was only to assess that Alejandro Catena deserved a red card and not a yellow though. Mikel Oyarzabal made no mistake.

In the final half hour, it was Los Rojillo who pushed hard, and put pressure on La Real without creating many clear opportunities. Despite the miracle return of Umar Sadiq, the Txuri-Urdin struggled to make the most of the space on the break. Only in stoppage time did Brais Mendez round Andres Fernandez, only to be brought down by the Osasuna ‘keeper. His penalty was saved, but Mikel Merino followed up emphatically to put the game beyond doubt.

Girona 3-1 Rayo Vallecano

An incisive first half hour from league leaders Girona settled this Copa del Rey tie at Montilivi, as Michel Sanchez’s side responded to dropping points against Almeria at the weekend. A smooth move down the right initiated by Viktor Tsygankov saw Cristhian Stuani tap in early on and they never looked back. Abdul Mumin gave away a penalty not long after, and Stuani scored a beautiful Panenka penalty over the helpless Dani Cardenas. Another veteran Daley Blind also got in on the act, finishing a cross from Portu at the near post well.

Rayo did respond before half-time, with Isi Palazon striking the post, before an error from Jhon Solis allowed Rany Nteka to fire into the bottom left corner from the right side of the box. In spite of their best efforts in the second half, Girona hit the post late on in a match that lost intensity due to the evident control from the Catalan side, and the many changes occurring. Girona went through comfortably in the end.

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Tags Celta Vigo Copa del Rey Girona Osasuna Rayo Vallecano Real Sociedad Valencia
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