In the King's Cup, another two quarter-final first leg matches were played.
Recently showing better gameplay, Madrid's "Real" won at home against "Girona" after a productive battle, although the final score was not settled before the return match.
The hosts started the match unsuccessfully - in the 7th minute, Anthony Lozano took advantage of a defensive error by "Real" and put the visitors ahead. However, just 11 minutes later, Lucas Vazquez equalized after a superb pass from Alvaro Odriozola.
In the 42nd minute, the hosts were already celebrating an advantage, when the team captain Sergio Ramos successfully scored a penalty with a "panenka" style.
In the second half, "Real" continued to dominate, but in the 65th minute, they conceded a silly penalty in their own penalty area, as Marcos Llorente handled the ball inside the box. "Girona" had the chance to take a penalty kick, which they successfully converted to level the score.
However, "Real" was not willing to leave their field without a victory and in the 77th minute, once again Sergio Ramos restored the lead with a header.
A very important fourth goal was scored by Karim Benzema three minutes later. There were no more significant events in the match, and the hosts triumphed with a 4:2 result.
In the other quarter-final pair, Barcelona's "Espanyol" and Sevilla's "Real Betis" ended in a draw.
The return matches will take place next week.
Results:
"Real Madrid" 4 - 2 "Girona"
7' [0 - 1] A. Lozano
18' [1 - 1] L. Vazquez
42' [2 - 1] S. Ramos (penalty)
66' [2 - 2] A. Granell (penalty)
77' [3 - 2] S. Ramos
80' [4 - 2] K. Benzema
"Espanyol" 1 - 1 "Real Betis"
27' [1 - 0] B. Iglesias
81' [1 - 1] A. Sanabria
