Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Friday, 29 January 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Reuters: Holders Barcelona produced a second-half blitz to come from behind and beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 to book a place in the King’s Cup semi-finals after Atletico Madrid crashed out in a shock 3-2 defeat by Celta Vigo.
Inaki Williams put Bilbao ahead after 12 minutes against a lacklustre Barca who held a 2-1 lead from the first leg.
The Catalan side woke up in the second half with in-form Luis Suarez knocking in the equaliser. A Gerard Pique header after 81 minutes put Barca ahead and Neymar cracked in a drive in stoppage time.
“We went out with a good advantage but then conceding made it complicated for us,” Suarez told reporters.
“It was a poor first half from us but then we went out (for the second half) with a different attitude and that made the difference.”
Pablo Hernandez scored twice for Celta to stun Atletico who lie second in La Liga.
The first leg had finished 0-0 but the return was a feast of attacking football in which Celta showed the greater cutting edge.
Hernandez nodded home after 22 minutes and although Antoine Griezmann pounced on a rebound to equalise, John Guidetti struck to restore the visitors’ advantage after 56 minutes.
Celta extended their lead through another Hernandez header and Atletico could only pull one goal back through substitute Angel Correa nine minutes from time.
Reuters: Manchester City reached the League Cup final after recovering from a shaky start as Sergio Aguero’s brilliant header sealed a 3-1 win over Everton in the semi-final second leg on Wednesday to clinch a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Ross Barkley’s bullish run and powerful finish put Everton ahead on the night after 18 minutes, but the lead was soon wiped out when Fernandinho’s effort was deflected into the visitors’ net.
If that was a lucky break for City, they were even more fortunate when Kevin de Bruyne side-footed them level in the tie after replays showed the ball had gone out of play before being cut back for the Belgian to score after 70 minutes.
City’s third goal, however, was all about the brilliance of striker Aguero, who angled a superb header into the corner to set up a final against Liverpool on Feb. 28 at