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Real Madrid celebrate Sergio Ramos' goal against Leganes.
Review

Sergio Ramos reaches 100 goals as Real Madrid receive cup boost

Leganes dumped their opponents out of the Copa del Rey last season, but they trail 3-0 after the first leg of their last-16 tie.

SERGIO RAMOS SCORED the 100th goal of his career as Real Madrid battled to a 3-0 home win over Leganes in the first leg of their Copa del Rey last-16 tie.

Madrid, beaten 2-0 at home by Real Sociedad in LaLiga on Sunday, were again unconvincing for large periods of Wednesday’s match at the Santiago Bernabeu but pulled through after the break.

Captain Ramos gave them the lead shortly before half-time with a penalty, taking his tally for club and country to three figures after Alvaro Odriozola was fouled by Gerard Gumbau.

With Leganes tiring in the second period, Lucas Vazquez capitalised on a defensive mistake before Vinicius Junior cushioned in a low volley to put Madrid in a strong position ahead of the second leg.

Madrid had the first good chance in the 15th minute but Karim Benzema could not get enough power on a header from Odriozola’s cross to trouble Ivan Cuellar, the striker then rifling over when found by Vazquez.

Martin Braithwaite headed a corner straight at Keylor Navas, deputising for injured Thibaut Courtois, and the striker failed to hit the target with another good chance soon after.

Braithwaite was proving a handful and the Dane, making his debut after joining on loan from Middlesbrough, forced a fine save from Navas after beating Benzema to Nabil El Zhar’s cross.

But Madrid took the lead from the spot in the 44th minute, Ramos converting a penalty awarded when Gumbau clumsily felled Odriozola as the full-back ran into the box.

Vazquez doubled the hosts’ lead in the 68th minute. Benzema’s pressing won the ball back deep in Leganes’ territory after Unai Bustinza’s poor pass, with Vinicius unselfishly squaring for Vazquez to tuck the ball home.

Vinicius completed the scoring with 13 minutes remaining, beautifully finishing an Odriozola cross to net for his second consecutive appearance in the Copa del Rey.

Elsewhere, Antoine Griezmann continued his goalscoring streak as Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 at Girona to edge them towards the last eight of the Copa del Rey.

Diego Simeone’s side have not beaten Girona since they were promoted to LaLiga in 2017, but the visitors looked prime to end that run when Griezmann fortuitously put Atletico into the lead after nine minutes with his seventh goal in eight games.

However, the hosts hit back 25 minutes later as Anthony Lozano netted only his second goal of the season on a night when he was a thorn in Atletico’s side.

Simeone will fancy his chances of guiding Atletico to a seventh consecutive appearance in the quarter-finals given they are unbeaten at home this season, but Girona will stand a chance in the second leg if they put in the kind of spirited display that saw them fight back to earn a draw. 

Spanish Copa del Rey results on Wednesday:

Last 16, first leg

Girona 1 (Lozano 33) Atletico Madrid 1 (Griezmann 8)

Getafe 1 (Rodriguez Diaz 90+1) Valladolid 0

Villarreal 2 (Toko Ekambi 84, Bacca 88) Espanyol 2 (Darder 14, Lopez 70)

Real Madrid 3 (Sergio Ramos 44, Lucas Vasquez 68, Vincius Junior 77) Leganes 0

Thursday

Athletic Bilbao v Sevilla (1830), Real Betis v Real Sociedad (1930), Levante v Barcelona (2030)

Played Tuesday

Sporting Gijon 2 (Noblejas 34, Blackman 79) Valencia 1 (Parejo 45)

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