End of dream run
Leganes suffer heartache exit as Sevilla reach final
Madrid: Joaquin Correa and Franco Vazquez scored as Sevilla advanced to a second Spanish King’s Cup final in three years following a 3-1 aggregate victory over Leganes.
After a 1-1 draw in last week’s first leg, Correa fired Sevilla ahead in the tie when he tucked home a cutback from Luis Muriel with 15 minutes gone at the Sanchez Pizjuan.
Leganes had stunned European champions Real Madrid last month to progress to the semi-finals of the domestic Cup competition for the first time in the club’s 90-year history.
But the modest outfit from the Madrid suburbs saw their dream run come to an end when Vazquez finished off a counter-attack in lethal fashion a minute from time to com-
plete a 2-0 win on the night.
“It’s a great feeling, it’s the reward for the all the work put in,” Correa told Spanish TV station Gol, before paying tribute to Sevilla’s vanquished opponents.
“(Leganes) are a team who know what they’re doing, a team worthy of a Cup semi-final.”
Sevilla coach Vincenzo Montella risked his reputation by playing a weakened team on Saturday against Eibar and his side were thrashed 5-1, but his gamble paid off as his side outlasted Leganes on Wednesday.
“We knew how to stick together when we were down and how to be a team and thanks to this we’re in the final. This will give us an important boost for the remainder of the season,” Montella told reporters.
Leganes struggled to create decent openings, managing only one shot at goalkeeper Sergio Rico, who had conceded an embarrassing own goal in the first leg.
“We are very proud of all the players as they gave everything and tried but we had an opponent in front of us who were better than us,” Leganes coach Asier Garitano said.
“When you give everything you can’t ask for anything else, we’re going to see how we react to all of this and focus on our objective of remaining in the top flight next year.” — Agencies