Sevilla took advantage of two red cards against Real Zaragoza and a brace from Álvaro Negredo as they rolled in to the Copa del Rey semifinals with a 3-0 thrashing of the Blanquillos. The aggregate score matches today’s result since the first leg was a scoreless draw.
Sevilla FC vs. Real Zaragoza: Final score 4-0, Los Rojiblancos sink Zaragoza
Sevilla took advantage of two red cards against Real Zaragoza as they cruised in to the Copa del Rey semifinals.
Denis Doyle
Sevilla will face the winner of the Real Betis vs. Atletico Madrid tie in the next round. Atleti currently holds a 2-0 advantage after the first leg with the second leg scheduled for tomorrow. Should Betis comeback, we'll be gifted with a two leg Sevilla Derby.
Up until the 26th minute it was a fairly tight match, but everything changed after Real Zaragoza defender José Manuel Fernández, who was making his debut after joining the club from Cordoba, hammered in to José Antonio Reyes with a late ugly tackle. The referee wasted no time sending Fernández off and Sevilla were off a running.
Nine minutes later Álvaro Negredo scored on a powerful header off a corner. Zaragaoza players pleaded for a foul to be called against Negredo who plowed right through Cristian Sapunaru, but the referee wanted nothing to do with their protest and the goat stood.
It looked as though Zaragoza would get to halftime only down a goal but a defensive breakdown allowed Ivan Rakitic to break free down the left side of the pitch before beating Leo Franco with a hard shot in to the top corner of the goal. Sevilla went to the locker room up 2-0 and in firm control of their fate.
In the 64th minute Sevilla firmly booked their place in the next round. Zaragoza's Fran Gonzalez completely took out Cicinho in the box and the referee wasted no time awarding a penalty. He also decided show Gonzalez a yellow card, which was his second of the match, reducing Zaragzoa to nine men. Negredo stepped up to the spot and beat Franco to put Sevilla ahead 3-0.
Sevilla's Manu added a fourth goal late in the match, just for fun.
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