Leganés and Getafe come down from the cloud to Almería and Pontevedra

CD Leganés and Getafe CF advanced to the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey this Wednesday after beating Almería (2-3) and Pontevedra (0-1) in two very demanding matches.

The law of the Primeras triumphed and also that of the south of Madrid, although far from the capital. In Almería, perhaps the fittest team in Spain, the ‘Lega’ started and finished better, to be among the best eight in the Cup for the second time in its history.

It was a rollercoaster of a match, with both teams looking for the rival goal from the start. Thus, after two minutes Almería’s goal was disallowed by millimeters and, despite the scare, Leganés also wanted to be the protagonist in the opposite field, with Adria Altimira making it 0-1 at half an hour.

The Second Pichichi Luis Suárez gave the locals the tie with a great goal and the prodigal son Lazaro, after his loan at Palmeiras, scored 2-1 shortly into the second half. Rubi’s team, who had not lost a game for three months, then suffered the reaction of a ‘Lega’ team that bets on cup joys.

Borja Jiménez brought in theoretical starters like Raba, Juan Cruz and Miguel de la Fuente and the ‘pepineros’ found even more punch than usual to bring the Second Division leader down from the cloud. From a penalty, Miguel made it 2-2 and, in a perfect counterattack with Almería demanding another maximum penalty, Diego García made it 2-3 already in the 87th minute.

On the other hand, also at home, ‘Geta’ woke up a Pontevedra team that had been the sensation of this edition of the ko tournament from its sleep. The Madrid team came out alive and qualified for the Pasarón quarterfinals thanks to Álvaro’s 0-1 score after two minutes. Despite that promising start, José Bordalás’s men soon suffered the audacity of the garnets, with total control of the ball.

However, it was difficult for the home team to be deep, while Getafe seemed comfortable even waiting in their field. Then, close to half-time, Álvaro went from hero to villain with a red card that undoubtedly complicated the Blues’ run in the Cup. Dalisson and Héctor had already had it, but in the second half, Iago Novo had two very clear ones, one on the crossbar, from which Getafe escaped.

The Madrid team knew how to suffer and even finished with nine, due to another red elbow, this time from Diego Rico already in stoppage time, but they ended the story of a Pontevedra that had just eliminated Villarreal and Mallorca. Those from Bordalás performed against a Second RFEF to have the incentive of the Cup, back to the quarterfinals six years later, in the search for a team that competes for permanence in LaLiga EA Sports.