Played
January 21, 2014 9:00 PM WAT
Estadi Cornellà-El Prat — Cornella de Llobregat
Referee: Clos Gómez
Attendance: 18050
January 21, 2014 9:00 PM WAT
Estadi Cornellà-El Prat — Cornella de Llobregat
Referee: Clos Gómez
Attendance: 18050
Espanyol 0-1 Real Madrid: Benzema gives los Blancos first-leg lead
The visitors were the better side from start to finish and a solitary strike from the France striker was their reward
Getty Images
Karim Benzema scored the only goal of the game to give Real Madrid a
1-0 win over Espanyol in the first-leg of their Copa del Rey
quarter-final.
France striker Benzema scored what proved
to be the crucial goal after 25 minutes, but Carlo Ancelotti's men will
be disappointed not to have secured a healthier advantage after spurning
a number of excellent chances.
Espanyol created the first clear-cut
opportunity after 18 minutes as Portuguese attacker Pizzi blazed over
the bar from close range.
That near-miss appeared to spark Madrid
into life, and three minutes later Cristiano Ronaldo turned brilliantly
on the edge of the area, only to see his low shot hit the post.
The visitors did take the lead shortly
after, as Benzema found the back of the net with a diving header after
Gareth Bale had flicked Alvaro Arbeloa's right-wing cross into his path.
The visitors could have pulled clear
before the interval, but both Benzema and Bale were denied by strong
saves from Espanyol keeper Kiko Casilla.
Espanyol started the second half brightly
and almost levelled after 54 minutes with a fine curling effort from
forward Sergio Garcia.
However, los Blancos would have
put the tie beyond doubt if not for the brilliance of Casilla, who raced
off his line to thwart Angel Di Maria following a fine ball from
Marcelo, before also preventing Arbeloa and Benzema from finding a
second.
For all of the visitors' dominance, the visitors were grateful to goalkeeper Iker Casillas for preserving their lead.
The Spain international produced an
excellent one-on-one save to keep out a strike from substitute Jhon
Cordoba six minutes from the end, on a night when the 32-year-old broke
his own record for minutes played without conceding a goal, which now
stands at 592.
Madrid host the second leg at the Bernabeu next Tuesday. ----------------- goal.com
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