Tight games & upsets in third round of Copa del Rey

Madrid, Jan 17 (SocialNews.XYZ) Lucas Ocampos' 85th-minute goal stopped Sevilla from falling victim to an upset in the latest encounter in the third round of the Spanish Copa del Rey knockout competition.

Sevilla, on Saturday, dominated the ball for nearly all of their game against second division Leganes, but it wasn't until five minutes from time that the Argentinean's strike broke down their stubborn rivals, reports Xinhua news agency.

Levante also made it through into the fourth round, although they needed extra time and penalties to get past second division Fuenlabrada in a game played in the installations of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

Antonio Cristian scored an own goal to give Levante the lead, but Borja Garces equalised midway through the second half, although Levante snuck through in the shootout.

Valladolid also needed extra time to get past third-tier Pena Deportiva in Ibiza after the home side took the lead through Fernando Gomez.

Michel's 62nd-minute penalty leveled the scores before two extra-time goals from Roque Mesa and a tap in from Oscar Plano sealed the top-flight side's victory.

However, there were top-flight victims as Abelardo Fernandez's return as Alaves coach got off to a dreadful start as his side was dumped out of the Cup 5-0 by second division promotion hopefuls, Almeria.

Umar Sadiq scored two first-half goals and Alaves' task was made harder by Tomas Pina's red card, before Agar Aketxe made it 3-0 at the start of the second half, an own goal and a penalty completed the rout.

Valery Fernandez netted twice as second-tier Girona produced another upset with a 2-0 win at home to Cadiz, with his goals coming in the 48th and 58th minute.

Last season saw Andoni Iriaola lead Mirandes to the semifinal of the Cup after knocking Celta, Villarreal, and Sevilla out of the Cup and he claimed another top-flight scalp as his Rayo Vallecano side beat Elche 2-0 with goals from Bebe and Catena to move into the last 16.

Source: IANS