MADRID (AP) - Leganes boosted its chances of reaching the Copa del Rey final for the first time by salvaging a 1-1 draw against Sevilla on Wednesday, netting the equalizer after a mistake by Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico.
Sevilla opened the scoring in the first leg through Luis Muriel after a counterattack midway through the first half at Butarque Stadium, before the hosts evened the match shortly after halftime. Rico missed the ball while trying to punch it away just in front of goal, allowing defender Dimitrios Siovas to easily find the net with a header.
“The equalizer changed the game,” Sevilla coach Vincenzo Montella said. “Everything was more complicated after the goal.”
The ball went high in the air after being headed by a defender inside the area, and Rico seemed to have plenty of time as it came down near the goal line. But the goalkeeper complained of a foul after apparent contact with Siovas and unsuccessfully appealed to the referee.
“I don’t know if it was a foul or if it was a mistake,” Montella said. “We have to remember that Rico also made some good saves.”
Leganes, a club based just south of Madrid, eliminated Real Madrid in the quarterfinals. It had never reached the last eight of the Copa in the team’s 89-year history.
Sevilla, a five-time Copa winner, is trying to return to the final for the first time since it was beaten by Barcelona in 2016.
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