Soldier tombs the champion and leads Granada to Cup semifinals

Granada, with a penalty goal from Roberto Soldado in the 93rd minute, sealed its pass to the semifinals of the Copa del Rey on Tuesday by beating Valencia, the current champion, in the New Los Cármenes (2-1), a result which allows the Granada group to reach the penultimate round of the 'KO' tournament for the first time in the last 51 years.

And, since May 1969, the Nasrids did not step on the 'semis', and he had to be a former player of the 'che' group who returned the glory. The Valencian striker opened the scoring as soon as the match began, and, already at the discount and from eleven meters behind a hand committed by Jaume Costa, he offered Granada the pass to the fourth semifinals of its history.

At the start of the quarter-cuppers, Nasrids and Valencians offered a first 45 minutes of pure football, with the locals biting more and hitting on their second arrival, when only a couple of minutes had elapsed since the initial whistle.

After a loss in the midfield of Albert Celades, the against Granada was armed; Roberto Soldado advanced to the balcony of the area and fired with power adjusted to the short stick to surprise Jaume and overtake his team against his former team (min.3).

The arrivals, constant in both areas, gave rhythm to a round trip and full of occasions. Jaume broke up, in the 8th minute, the second goal of Granada, just after Rodrigo wasted a great opportunity to make the draw in an overcrossed shot.

Yes, the Spanish-Brazilian striker found a door after a quarter of an hour, but the referee canceled the goal for a previous offside (min. 16). With no time to breathe, the Andalusian team responded with a kick to Foulquier's stick, before Maxi Gomez tried his luck on a shot that saved the local defense.

A new shot to the crossbar in the middle of the hour closed the festival of Nasrid occasions in the first half, but, little by little, the set 'che' was releasing the pressure to find his prize in the 40th minute, when Rodrigo took advantage of a center behind the back of Coquelin to, first, equalize the contest.

Soldier goes to the rescue

Diego Martínez retouched the team in the middle with the entry of Víctor Díaz by Vadillo, although it was Valencia who led the initiative in the first stages of the restart, taking control of the ball.

However, the fatigue was making a dent and the shock was losing explosiveness. Even so, Jaume still had to act to save a couple of shots of the newly entered Machís.

Everything jumped in the air when, already at the discount and in a corner kick, Jaume Costa cleared the ball with his elbow; the referee, after reviewing the VAR, decreed a penalty and Soldier resolved with cold blood to seal the pass (min.93). With this, the Granada team is already waiting for a rival in the semifinals, which will cease to be a single match.

DATA SHEET.

–OUTCOME: GRANADA, 2 – VALENCIA, 1 (1-1, at rest).

– ALIGNMENTS.

POMEGRANATE: Aaron Escandell; Foulquier, Sánchez, Vallejo, Neva; Gonalons (Eteki, min. 85), Vadillo (Víctor Díaz, min. 46), Doors, Herrera; Soldier and Carlos Fernández (Machís, min. 69).

VALENCIA: Jaume; Wass, Gabriel, Diakhaby, Costa; Parejo, Coquelin, Carlos Soler, Ferran Torres (Guedes, min. 67), Rodrigo (Florenzi, min. 86) and Maxi Gómez.

– GOALS:

1-0, min. 3: Soldier.

1-1, min. 40: Rodrigo.

2-1, min. 93: Soldier, penalty.

–REFEREE: González González (C. Castellano-Manchego). He admonished Gonalons (min. 43) and Soldier (min. 53) by Granada.

–STADIUM: New Los Cármenes. 16,551 spectators.