Betis will play the Copa el Rey final against Valencia on April 23 at the La Cartuja stadium. The Seville team tied 1-1 with Rayo Vallecano (1-1) in the second leg of the semifinalsand how won the first leg (1-2)sealed their qualification to the final.
The first half was even and there were few scoring chances. Rayo Vallecano warned in the 17th minute, but Édgar cut off Álvaro García’s cross when Guardiola was waiting to finish off. Later, in the 37th minute, Betis was close to the goal; Álex Moreno entered the area, gave the back pass, the ball hit Mario Suárez, and goalkeeper Luca Zidane avoided the Verdiblanco team’s goal.
Pathé Ciss had the first chance of the second half in the 54th minute, but his shot on the half-turn went just over the crossbar. Four minutes later, Carvalho’s shot missed the target and he missed the baseline after grazing the post. The Portuguese Betis player tried again from outside the area, but the shot went high. In the 72nd minute, Fekir showed his quality, he entered the area after leaving several rivals behind, and his shot was saved by Zidane.
Babywho had entered the pitch in the 77th minute, only needed three minutes to score a goal that put Rayo Vallecano ahead on the scoreboard (0-1); he kicked a long free kick and beat goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.
It seemed that with the great goal of Baby the match was going to go to extra time, but a Betis counterattack culminated by Borja Iglesias in the 92nd minute served to tie the game (1-1).
The Betis team was able to sentence the tie in the 94th minute, but Joaquín failed after remaining alone against Zidane. In the end, the match ended tied (1-1) and Betis qualified for the final.
Data sheet:
1 – Betis: Claudio Bravo; Sabaly, Pezzella, Édgar, Álex Moreno (Guardado, m.95); Guido Rodriguez, William Carvalho; Canales, Fekir, Juanmi (Joaquín, m.81); and Willian José (Borja Iglesias, m.86).
1 – Vallecano Ray: Luca Zidane; Balliú, Catena, Mario Suárez (Baby, m.77), Fran García; Isi Palazón (Nteka, m.61), Óscar Valentín, Pathé Ciss (Santi Comesaña, m.61), Álvaro (Kevin Rodrigues, m.89), Trejo; and Sergi Guardiola (Sylla, m.77).
Goals: 0-1, M.80: Baby. 1-1, M.92: Borja Iglesias.
Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera (Valencian Committee). He admonished visiting Balliú (m.71) and local Willian José (m.79).
Source: Eitb
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
