King's Cup: Caicedo brace fires Espanyol past Valencia

Espanyol's Felipe Caicedo came off the bench and netted two late goals to secure a 2-0 win at home to 10-man Valencia on Tuesday that sent the Barcelona-based club through to the King's Cup quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.

Felipe CaicedoValencia won last week's last 16, first leg 2-1 at their Mestalla stadium but were dealt a blow in the 14th minute of the return when defender Shkodran Mustafi was shown a straight red card for hauling back Sergio Garcia when the Espanyol captain was through on goal.

The visitors held out against waves of Espanyol attacks until the 80th minute when Caicedo outjumped goalkeeper Yoel and nodded into the empty net.

The powerful Ecuador forward made it 2-0 a minute from time when he controlled the ball in the penalty area and lashed a low shot into the net.

The victory for the 2006 winners set up a likely last-eight clash against Sevilla, who will start with a 2-1 lead over Granada when they host their Andalusian rivals on Wednesday.

"It was a perfect night for all Espanyol fans," Garcia said.

"The players showed they want to give some joy to the supporters and that we take this competition seriously," added the former Spain international.

"The sending off was a key moment but that does not detract from our achievement. We played a great match."

Valencia's exit from the competition they have won seven times, most recently in 2008, came a day after coach Nuno extended his contract until June 2018 and effectively ended their hopes of silverware this season.

The club failed to qualify for Europe

last term but hopes are high they can revive past glories in coming years following a recent takeover by Singapore billionaire Peter Lim.

"Obviously it's a day of pain and sadness," Nuno told a news conference.

"It's very tough when you are a man down," added the Portuguese. "But this team has shown that it recovers after a bad result and we have to give our fans some joy on Saturday," at home to Almeria in La Liga.

MALAGA THROUGH

Malaga joined Espanyol in the last eight despite throwing away a 2-0 lead and losing 3-2 at Levante, a 2-0 victory in the first leg securing a 4-3 aggregate success for the Qatar-owned club.

Levante substitute David Barral scored twice for the home side to level the match before he earned a second yellow card and was sent off in the 89th minute when he handled the ball into the net in search of his hat-trick.

Malaga, who have never reached the final, will probably meet Athletic Bilbao in the last eight.

The Basque club's tally of 23 Cup triumphs is only bettered by Barcelona's 26 and they host Celta Vigo on Wednesday after winning the first leg in Galicia 4-2.

Atletico Madrid have a 2-0 lead over holders Real Madrid ahead of their second leg at Real's Bernabeu stadium on Thursday, with the winners almost certain to play Barca in the quarters.

The Catalans hold a 5-0 advantage over Elche heading into Thursday's second leg.

This season's edition of Spain's domestic Cup competition is the first since 1969-70, when teams from lower divisions began competing, that only top-flight sides reached the last 16.

Image: Felipe Caicedo

Photograph: Mike Stobe/Getty Images