Atletico beat Sevilla to set up final with Real
Reuters - Wednesday 27 February 2013, 22:59
Atletico Madrid set up a King's Cup final with city rivals Real after
Diego Costa and Radamel Falcao scored in a 2-2 second leg draw at
Sevilla on Wednesday, to progress 4-3 on aggregate.
Costa,
who had scored both Atletico goals from the penalty spot in the first
leg, put the visitors in charge after carving an opening for himself in
the sixth minute and firing low into the far corner.
His
seventh goal in the Cup made him the competition's leading scorer this
season, one ahead of Real's Cristiano Ronaldo and Sevilla striker Alvaro
Negredo.
The Brazilian
striker then broke away down the left and crossed low for Colombia's
Falcao, who darted in front of his marker to score in the 29th.
Roared
on by a noisy home crowd, Sevilla's most dangerous player Jesus Navas
breathed life back in to the tie with a curling shot that went in off
the far post just before the break.
Sevilla,
who beat Atletico 2-0 in the 2010 cup final, pressed hard in the second
half but did not find a way past Thibaut Courtois again until Ivan
Rakitic scored in time added on.
By
then, Sevilla had lost their cool with Gary Medel being sent off 14
minutes from time, and Geoffrey Kondogbia was red-carded at the end,
both for fouls on Costa.
Nine-times cup winners Atletico will meet their neighbours Real in the May 18
final after Jose Mourinho's men swept past holders Barcelona on Tuesday
to secure a 4-2 aggregate victory.
The venue for the match has still to be decided.
"To reach a final is very important for Atletico," Falcao told Spanish television.
"We
went in search of a result from the beginning. We knew they would come
at us and leave spaces. We made the most of it and took our chances.
On
the incidents with Costa, Falcao added: "The end of the game was ugly.
These things happen in games with a lot to play for, but we leave it out
there on the pitch."
THORN IN SIDE
Costa, 24, has muscled his way into Atletico's starting team this year with some outstanding performances in recent weeks.
He
was a constant thorn in the side for Sevilla with his driving runs, his
power in the air, and his ability to get under the skin of his
opponents.
The fiery Medel
saw red after picking up two yellow cards in the same incident, the
second for appearing to kick Costa while he was on the ground.
Kondogbia received a straight red after he committed a foul on the Brazilian and then stamped on him between his legs.
"We know Costa is provocative but we fell for it," Negredo told Spanish television.
Reaching the final shows the continued improvement of Atletico since Simeone took the helm just over a year ago.
The
former Argentina captain, who helped the club win their last cup as a
player in 1996, guided the side to the Europa League final last season
where they beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0.
They
swept aside Champions League winners Chelsea 4-1 in the season-opening
European Super Cup, and have surprised many by holding off Real Madrid
to hang on to second place in La Liga behind leaders Barcelona for so
long.
Atletico have not beaten Real in over a decade but Simeone was not prepared to discuss the final.
"It
shows a lack of respect to Sevilla to talk about Real Madrid after this
game against a great rival," he said.