Copa del Rey Review: Halilovic double not enough for Sporting

Barcelona loanee Alen Halilovic scored twice but Sporting Gijon suffered elimination from the Copa del Rey, with Real Betis striking twice late on to earn  a 3-3 draw.

Sporting suffered a 2-0 defeat in the first leg but got off to a great start at El Molinon in the return game when Bernardo Espinosa put them ahead in the 14th minute.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel responded quickly for Pepe Mel’s team as the pair went into the break level, but a double from substitute Halilovic, the second of which came from the penalty spot, put Abelardo’s side in with a shot of making the last 16.

However, Betis scored twice in the space of five minutes – Van Wolfswinkel and Cejudo on target – to progress 5-3 on aggregate.

Constantin Galca’s first act as Espanyol coach was to guide his new club into the last 16 with a 2-1 win over Levante at the Power8 Stadium.

The Romanian replaced Sergio Gonzalez at the helm on Monday but the match did not start as he would have wanted, with Verza firing Rubi’s team ahead inside eight minutes.

Jorge Burgui’s provided a quick response with his first goal for Espanyol bringing them back on level terms, and Felipe Caicedo made sure of a 3-2 aggregate triumph with his second-half strike.

Sevilla followed up their 3-0 triumph at Logrones in the first leg with a 2-0 victory at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan – Ciro Immobile and Jose Antonio Reyes with the goals – but Victor Iborra will serve a suspension after being dismissed late on.

Deportivo La Coruna survived a tense final 11 minutes after Jordi Lopez scored from the spot, holding on to a 1-1 draw against second-tier Llagostera at the Riazor which was enough to put them in the hat for the next round.