The first goal of the night was an omen. It bodes well for an unruly match at the O Couto stadium, where it didn’t take even a minute for Girona to make it 1-0. Álvaro Yuste scored it with a header, alone at the far post from a corner that the Girona players did not bother to defend. They were satisfied with having tied with Madrid in the League and the trip to the misty north confused them. An hour and a half later they were out, eliminated 2-1 by a Second Federation opponent who had fired Oviedo in the first round. A heroic act that Antoniano, from the Second Federation, would have multiplied had they eliminated Villarreal in their Lebrija field, a mat of artificial grass that alarmed Marcelino and that almost was not the carpet on which the third-placed team in the League succumbed, an entire Champions team forced to suffer even on penalties after the 1-1 scoreline for the young Jesús García, 19 years old.
It could have ended in tragedy for Villarreal, who won the penalties. For Girona there was no salvation. Míchel’s team tied with a penalty – Yuste’s foul, precisely – but in the second half Ourense began to dominate. With remarkable poise and ability, Ourense took the ball and Girona did not know how to respond. Ouhdadi once again overtook the Galician team. There was rejoicing in the O Couto stands. The kind of happiness of the little boy who could not experience the fans of Torrent, another Second Federation, moved to the Ciutat de València. There they faced Betis, who soon showed off the quality of their attackers.
Rodrigo Riquelme made it 0-1 with a devastating right foot, hit from outside the area. A surprise for the goalkeeper, Marc Dolz, although not as big as another shot from Riquelme before the break. The winger is fighting to win the starting position at Betis. He had just scored two goals against Palma del Río in the first round of the Cup and did not stop with the 0-1 in Valencia. A counterattack culminated in the most unexpected way: a cutback and a spoon from the side of the area to put the ball without an angle, between the crossbar and Dolz. The Madrid winger closed the dispute with 3-0 and Betis ended up winning 1-4.
In the other matches involving First Division teams, Real Sociedad saved the score 0-2 in Reus; Levante beat Cieza, from the Third Federation, 0-1; and Elche beat Quintanar del Rey 1-2.
