Madrid, Dec 19 (IANS) Real Madrid had a few problems in assuring their place in the last 16 of the Spanish Copa del Rey knockout competition after defeating third tier side Olimpic de Xativa 2-0 in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Real Madrid were without Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale but were always favourites to progress despite a disappointing display in their 0-0 draw away from first leg of the tie, reported Xinhua.
Asier Illaramendi’s first ever professional goal opened the scoring after 10 minutes, before Angel Di Maria scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-0 at the break.
A disappointing second half saw no further goals, but the pair was enough to see Madrid into the next round, where they will face Osasuna, who qualified Tuesday night.
There was one major surprise as Racing Santander, who last season were relegated from the second division, came back from a 1-0 first leg defeat to knock Sevilla out with a 2-0 triumph in the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
David Miguelez leveled the tie from the penalty spot after 63 minutes after Sevilla’s Stephane M’Bia was sent off for committing the penalty and Mahamadou Kone caused the upset with a goal in the last minute.
Wednesday also saw Betis book their place in the next round, despite a disappointing 2-2 draw with Lleida, another third tier side.
Betis’ 2-1 first leg win was enough to see them through and they will play the winners of Thursday’s tie between Athletic Club Bilbao and Celta Vigo, where Celta take a 1-0 lead to San Mames.
Real Sociedad had few problems in qualifying with a 4-0 home win over Algeciras to take a 6-2 aggregate win. Javi Ros, Haris Seferovic, Antoine Griezmann and Carlos Vela scored for the Basques, who had only drawn the first leg 2-2.
Atletico Madrid were less than impressive in their 2-1 home win over San Andreu, but the reigning Cup holders were always going through after their 4-0 first leg win. Meanwhile Almeria were able to forget their league struggles with a 0-0 draw at home to second division Las Palmas, which although unimpressive at least allowed them to take advantage of their 3-1 first leg win.
Tuesday saw FC Barcelona, Osasuna, Villarreal, Levante, Getafe and second division Alcorcon, who sprang the only other surprise of the round so far, qualify for the last 16, while Thursday sees the return legs of the remaining four ties to be decided.
