Madrid in Copa semis, to face holders Barca
GIRONA: Karim Benzema fired Real Madrid into the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey on Thursday by scoring twice in a 3-1 win over Girona.
Benzema was on target in the first leg too, a 4-2 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu last week, and he continued his brilliant burst of form with another pair at Montilivi.
Pedro Porro pulled one back for Girona but any hopes of a comeback were extinguished when Marcos Llorente drove in for a 7-3 win on aggregate.
Real will next face defending champions Barcelona in the semi-finals. The draw made on Friday means there will be backto-back Clasicos, with the second leg due to take place in the last week of February, before Madrid host Barca in La Liga on March 2.
The first leg will be played at the Camp Nou next week before a return at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The provisional dates are February 6 and 27. Real Betis will face Valencia in the other semi-final.
LAZIO BEAT INTER
MILAN: Mauro Icardi’s last-gasp penalty in extra-time forced a shoot-out, but Radja Nainggolan missed as Lazio eliminated Inter Milan to reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals on Thursday.
Lucas Leiva converted the decisive penalty for a 5-4 win at the San Siro after the match had finished 1-1 following extra time.
Ciro Immobile had broken the deadlock after 108 minutes when he blasted in following an exchange with Felipe Caicedo.
But there was more drama with Inter awarded a contested penalty after 125 minutes when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic fouled Danilo D’Ambrosio.
Inter skipper Icardi cooly slotted in with the last kick of extratime to revive home hopes. But Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha saved Lautaro Martinez’s effort and got his fingers to Nainggolan’s kick which went high before Leiva scored the winner.
PRESSURE ON SARRI
LONDON:Chelsea’s humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth on Wednesday left them outside the Premier League’s top four. The loss heaped more pressure on under-fire manager Maurizio Sarri.
New on-loan forward Gonzalo Higuain needs to start scoring quickly for the misfiring team and has a golden chance to open his account at home to bottom club Huddersfield on Saturday.
Among other games on Saturday, Tottenham will hope to stay in chase of leaders Liverpool and second-placed Manchester City with a home win over Newcastle.