Real reach cup semi-final

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:32:00

Real Madrid progressed to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey despite having two men red-carded and goalkeeper Iker Casillas forced off by injury in a 1-1 draw against Valencia tonight.

Jose Mourinho's side thumped Los Che 5-0 at the Mestalla at the weekend in the league and while there was plenty of action again tonight, it was for different reasons.

Casillas' finger injury on 18 minutes, after he appeared to suffer a kick to his hand, began a memorable night in which the result was all but confirmed by Karim Benzema's 44th-minute goal.

That gave Madrid a 3-0 advantage in the tie although they made life hard for themselves after the break.

Fabio Coentrao saw red on 51 minutes and moments later Tino Costa pulled back a goal.

It proved only consolation, however, as the hosts failed to made any further inroads before Angel Di Maria saw red two minutes from the end.

Sevilla progressed with a 4-0 win after Real Zaragoza also finished with nine men.

Jose Manuel Fernandez was given his marching orders on 26 minutes before Alvaro Negredo scored the first of his double 10 minutes later.

Ivan Rakitic made it 2-0 at half-time - after the teams had been locked at 0-0 after the first leg - and Zaragoza's hopes evaporated when Fran Gonzalez was also red carded on 66 minutes.

Negredo converted from the spot before substitute Manu completed a wide-margin win in injury time.