18/12/2003
Real
Madrid survive King's Cup scare at Leganes |
MADRID, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Real Madrid needed a last-gasp equaliser from
Santiago Solari and an extra-time goal from Raul to clinch a 4-3 victory
away to second division Leganes in an epic King's Cup second-round clash
on Thursday.England captain David Beckham put Real ahead with a free kick
after 15 minutes and Raul made it 2-0 to the Primera Liga leaders with
eight minutes to go before halftime.
Leganes, from a working class suburb south of Madrid and featuring nine
Argentine-born players in their team following a takeover by music tycoon Daniel
Grinbank, came back to equalise before the end of the first half with two Borja
goals.
The
mid-table second division side went ahead five minutes after the break with a
Francisco Pavon own goal and Real were heading out of the competition before
Solari scored with a deflected shot two minutes from time.
Leganes missed a string of chances in the first period of extra-time and Real
capitalised as Raul scored his second goal of the night five minutes into the
second half.
A Real
side missing the likes of Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane but still boasting
players of the calibre of Beckham, Roberto Carlos and Raul appeared to have the
game wrapped up when they took a 2-0 lead in the first half.
Leganes goalkeeper Bernardo Leyenda was at fault on both goals, as he let a
30-metre free kick from Beckham slip through his fingers for the first and then
dropped a weak shot from the England captain straight to the feet of Raul to tap
in.
That
should have been game over but a mistake from Raul Bravo gave Leganes a route
back into the tie.
Bravo
inexplicably allowed Pablo Ignacio Calandria to slip past him on the left side
of the area and the Argentine forward provided a simple cross for Borja to touch
past Cesar.
Borja,
one of only two Spaniards in the Leganes side, levelled in the second minute of
first-half injury-time as he nipped in front of the Real defence to glance a
header past Cesar.
Leganes moved ahead just after the break when Pavon headed a Martin Ariel Vitali
cross past his own keeper and that looked like being enough to take them through
until Solari's late intervention tilted the tie Real's way.