Real Mallorca and Real Sociedad cancelled one another out in a cagey 0-0 draw within the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final at a packed Son Moix stadium on Tuesday.
Visiting Sociedad had the higher of the few clear-cut possibilities with Umar Sadiq one way or the other failing to attain from point-blank vary in a touch extra thrilling second half.
Mallorca talisman Abdon Prats went closest for the islanders with a volley halfway by the primary half and one other low shot simply off course early within the second half.
Sociedad shall be favourites to progress from the second leg on February 27 though Javier Aguirre’s Mallorca will retain hope of repeating their sole Copa del Rey title in 2003.
Atletico Madrid face Athletic Bilbao within the opening leg of the opposite semi-final on Wednesday.
“With this opponent, who are better than us, who have a lot of resources, I’m happy with the result,” Aguirre mentioned.
“We knew they were going to put us under pressure, it was a game where we had to work a lot, run a lot, maybe not the most attractive, but the tie is open.”
Mallorca’s 4-0 defeat by Bilbao on the weekend left them precariously positioned simply above the La Liga drop zone however the temper was buoyant forward of Tuesday’s cup conflict.
Sadly, the match was not a lot of a spectacle for the excited crowd because it descended right into a tactical battle with Mallorca failing to register a single shot on the right track.
Real Sociedad, who will face Paris St Germain within the last-16 of the Champions League subsequent week, progressively seized management of the match and would have returned residence with victory however for some wayward ending by Sadiq.
He headed an important probability over the crossbar within the first half and his evening went from unhealthy to worse after the break as he failed to search out the online from a cross with the purpose at his mercy, clumsily sending the ball over the bar.
He additionally blazed a rebound large after Mallorca keeper Dominik Greif had made an important save to maintain out a shot by Brais Mendez though he would have been dominated offside.
“He knows that this goal would have given us an advantage for the second leg, but here, when we slip up, we slip up together,” Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil mentioned of his errant striker. “It’s football and we have to support him.”
Sociedad want to add to their 1987 and 2020 triumphs within the Copa del Rey whereas additionally they gained the competitors in 1909 after they had been generally known as Club Ciclista de San Sebastian.
Source web site: www.hindustantimes.com
