Thursday, 14 April 2016

Copa Del Burro - Semi Finals


The semi final 2nd legs were played last night as the first ever Copa Del Burro comes towards a conclusion. The first game saw favourites Real Madrid travel to the Estadio do Dragao and face off against Portugal's sole remaining sie, Porto.



The other match was an all Spanish affair as 2nd division side Athletic Club left Bilbao and headed for 4th division Malaga and the Costa del Sol.    


Porto v Real Madrid Att: 11,800

Porto went into last nights match fully aware that qualifying for the final was a long shot at best, having already lost 5 - 2 at the Bernebeau in the first leg. That said, in front of their own fans, the Portuguese outfit went into the game determined to be no pushovers. 

Unfortunately for them however, it didnt take long for Madrid to once again stamp their authority on another match. After 11 minutes Eden Hazard whipped in a delightful corner, and Neymar rose to put it home. 

After 27 it was 2 - 0. The competitions top scorer, Robert Lewandowski blasted home after Neymar fed him the ball. In between the two goals, Real had also spurned a couple of other opportunities, whilst Porto had only created on chance for themselves.

66 minutes into the ga,e and Neymar was again the provider. This time an assist for Koke as the away side went 3 - 0 ahead.

The scoreline flattered Porto really, although in former Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, they had the man of the match. The custodian single handedly keeping the scoreline relatively respectable. 

Aggregate score: Real Madrid 8 - 2 Porto

Malaga v Athletic Club Att: 5,648

Ever since Greg Billington's arrival, Malaga have been in outstanding form, and the fact that they are in the semi finals of the prestigious Copa Del Burro, and challenging Genoa for the division 4 title is no coincidence. 

Things started off slowly for the home side last night however. Behind after just 14 minutes to a free kick from Bilbao's Alberto Bueno. Ochoa in the Malaga goal got a hand to the ball, but the Mexican couldnt get enough of it and his second touch was picking it out of the net. 

The rest of the first half was a fairly quiet affair, and 1-0 was how it stood at the break. Within 6 minutes of the restart however, the visitors were 2 up, and looking good to go through to the final. Ibai Gomez put in Balenziaga, and the man with the long name made no mistake. 

As the hour mark came, Isreali Hemed scored, and was immidiately hauled off in oneof the poorest pieces of management this reporter can remember. Even worse than the time Stephen Beddows refused to give Mario Ballotelli "a hand" on the touchline. 

As the game drew to a close, both sides missed good opportunities to win it. Well Malaga missed good opportunites, Bilbao were kept out by a great display from Ochoa.

Aggregate score: Malaga 3 - 3 Athletic Club (Tie level on away goals, single play off game to be played in Malaga on April 16th) 





1 comment:

  1. Great work Tom, much appreciated. And to confirm, Hemed was injured in the celebrations after Bokeman the sardine left him hanging.... I had no choice but to take him off :-)

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