Real Madrid beat sprited Leganes

Leganes (Spain) Jan 19 (IANS) Real Madrid are well on the way to reaching the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey football tournament after beating Leganes 1-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final tie here.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane stuck with the same sub-heavy squad he has been using so far in the competition though he ended up sending in starters Luka Modric and Isco Alarcon for the final 20 minutes of Thursday s match as the visitors were struggling to create chances reports Efe news agency.

As the minutes passed without a Real Madrid goal Leganes dared to dream that they would finally reach the second leg of a Copa tie with something at stake.

But just as the visitors seemed to be resigned to a scoreless draw Theo Hernandez exploited an opening on the left side to dash down the field and deliver a cross to Marco Asensio who found the back of the net in the 89th minute to give his side the upper hand heading into the second leg at the Bernabeu.

--IANS
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