Piatti ensures Valencia reach cup semis
Reuters - Thursday 26 January 2012, 22:37
Valencia's Pablo Piatti
scored twice to set up a meeting with Barcelona in the King's
Cup semi-finals after helping his side to a 7-1 aggregate win at
city rivals Levante on Thursday.
Aritz Aduriz set the 2008 cup winners on their way to a 3-0
quarter-final, second leg victory from Piatti's pull-back after
25 minutes before the provider turned scorer five minutes later,
sprinting clear to net in a one-on-one.
The Argentine midfielder wrapped up the win at Levante's
Ciutat de Valencia stadium near the end after the hosts' new
signing Oscar Serrano was sent off on his debut, 18 minutes from
time.
Valencia, who are third in La Liga, take on European and
Spanish champions Barca next Wednesday in the semi-final, first
leg tie at the Mestalla.
Last year's runners up Barcelona held on for a 2-2 draw at
home to beat their great rivals and holders Real Madrid 4-3 on
aggregate on Wednesday.
The second semi sees 23-times cup winners Athletic Bilbao
take on giant-killers Mirandes of Spain's Segunda B, who have already put out top-flight Villarreal, Racing
Santander and Espanyol.
It is only the second time a team from the third tier of
Spanish football has reached the cup semi-finals and they have
home advantage for the first leg next Tuesday.