William Carvalho’s objective provides Betis edge over Rayo in Copa semifinal

Surrounded by defenders inside the world, William Carvalho got here up with an answer that may make most high strikers proud.
Without panicking, the Real Betis midfielder pulled off a neat nutmeg to get previous the defender standing in entrance of him, sending the ball in-between his legs earlier than calmly firing a low shot into the again of the online.
The objective gave Betis a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano within the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals on Wednesday, placing the Sevilla membership in place to return to the ultimate for the primary time since 2005.
The second leg will probably be performed in Sevilla on March 3. In the primary leg of the opposite semifinal on Thursday, Athletic Bilbao hosts Valencia seeking to make it to its third straight closing.

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Nos vamos a dormir, no sin antes deciros… ¡Betis, alé!
¡Buenas noches, familia!#ForeverGreen #CopaDelRey pic.twitter.com/KHWiKRfI0d
— Real Betis Balompié 🌴💚 (@RealBetis) February 9, 2022
Rayo opened the scoring 5 minutes into the match at its Vallecas Stadium with a close-range header by Alvaro Garcia. Betis equalized within the twenty sixth with a low shot from outdoors the world by ahead Borja Iglesia.
Carvalho’s winner got here within the 68th after the nifty transfer to get previous Rayo defender Alejandro Catena and arrange the second objective of the season for the Portuguese midfielder.
Betis received its second Copa title in 2005 however hasn’t lifted any main trophy since then. The workforce has been revamped for the reason that arrival of veteran Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini in 2020. It sits third within the Spanish league and superior to the knockout rounds of the Europa League.
Rayo is taking part in within the Copa semifinals for the primary time since 1982 and is attempting to achieve the ultimate for the primary time in its historical past.
The modest Madrid membership entered the semifinals boasting among the finest dwelling data in Spanish soccer, with 9 wins and just one loss from 12 matches at Vallecas Stadium. It had misplaced solely as soon as in its final 10 dwelling matches in opposition to Betis in all competitions. Rayo eradicated Betis within the spherical of 32 of the Copa in 2020.

Colombia veteran striker Radamel Falcao got here off the bench for Rayo within the 62nd however couldn’t spark the workforce to a greater consequence.
Betis had received 4 in a row _ outscoring opponents 14-2 _ earlier than shedding to Villarreal 2-0 at dwelling within the league on Sunday, when some common starters have been rested.
The workforce was punished with the closure of a piece of its Benito Villamarin Stadium after a bit of plastic thrown by a fan hit a Sevilla participant within the head through the Copa match final month. The sport was suspended and resumed a day later behind closed doorways.