© EuroFootball.com
On Thursday, in the only second leg semi-final match of the Spanish King's Cup (Copa del Rey), the players of Barcelona's "Espanyol" team managed to turn the tide and win 2-1 at home over the team of La Coruna "Deportivo" after conceding an early goal.
Barcelona 2 - 1 La Coruna 4' [0 - 1] Ruben Castro (penalty) 56' [1 - 1] Luis Garcia (penalty) 90' [2 - 1] Walter Pandiani
61' Fabricio Coloccini ("Deportivo") was sent off the field.
Deportivo La Coruna, who eliminated "Valencia" in the quarterfinals due to two controversial penalty kicks and who had the chance to shoot from the penalty spot in the 4th minute of the match in Barcelona after Albert Lopo brought down Angel Arizmendi in the penalty area. Ruben Castro, who took the penalty, did not make a mistake and put the visitors ahead.
"Espanyol", who lost 4-0 to Madrid's "Real" over the weekend, equalized the score at the beginning of the second half - when the referee decided that "Deportivo" defender Jorge Andrade had played the ball with his hand, and Luis Garcia successfully converted the penalty kick.
The situation for the visitors worsened significantly in the 61st minute when "Deportivo" defender from Argentina Fabricio Coloccini was sent off the field for a foul on Jofre in the middle of the field.
Playing against ten opponents, "Espanyol" players snatched victory in the final minute of the match: after Luis Garcia's shot, new "Espanyol" recruit Walter Pandiani successfully sent the ball into the net from seven meters.
In the other semi-final match on Wednesday, "Zaragoza" crushed Madrid's "Real" players 6-1, marking their most painful defeat in the last seven years.
So far, the date of the second leg semi-final match between "Deportivo" and "Espanyol" in La Coruna is unknown - it will only be determined after "Espanyol" plays the UEFA Cup sixteenth-final match against Gelsenkirchen's "Schalke" on February 23.
