Zaragoza demolish Real Madrid 6-1 in Cup semi (Reuters) Updated: 2006-02-09 08:41
CARVED OPEN
It came as little surprise when the two front men combined to carve open the
Real defence in the 15th minute.
Real Madrid's
goalkeeper Iker Casillas (bottom) and Michel Salgado react during their
Spanish King Cup semi-final soccer match against Real Zaragoza at La
Romareda Stadium in Zaragoza, Spain, February 8, 2006.
[Reuters] | Former Borussia Dortmund player
Ewerthon scorched past Ivan Helguera on the right, darted into the area and cut
the ball back to Milito who lashed home past a helpless Iker Casillas.
Seven minutes later, the Argentine struck again. This time he stole a march
on Roberto Carlos after a quick throw-in, cut inside a despairing Sergio Ramos
and beat Casillas at the near post with a sharp finish with the outside of his
foot.
Real were still reeling from the blow when the former Genoa player helped
himself to his third, taking advantage of some slack marking to head home in the
34th minute.
Just as Real looked as though they were about to fold completely, they pulled
one back from a cleverly worked set piece.
Brazilian forward Julio Baptista powered a header past former Real keeper
Cesar after David Beckham had chipped a free kick into the area.
Zaragoza should have restored their advantage before the break, but Casillas
produced a brilliant point-blank save to stop a sharp shot from midfielder Oscar
after he had got behind the Real defence.
The capacity crowd did not have to wait long for the fourth, however, and
inevitably the goal came from Milito when he outjumped the passive Real defence
to head home from a corner 10 minutes into the second half.
Ewerthon joined in the fun five minutes later when he drilled under Casillas
after steaming past the beleaguered Real centre backs to meet a fine through
ball from Cani.
The Brazilian completed the rout with the most spectacular goal of the night
when he sent a swerving half-volley looping over a distraught Casillas.
Espanyol host Deportivo Coruna in the first leg of the
other semi-final on Thursday.
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