SEVILLE: Sevilla recovered from a humiliating loss to Eibar by booking their place in the Copa del Rey final for a second time in three seasons, beating Leganes 2-0 on Wednesday in a semi-final second leg to progress 3-1 on aggregate.

After a 1-1 draw in last week’s first leg, Argentine midfielder Joaquin Correa struck the opening goal by slotting a loose ball into an empty net from close range in the 15th minute at the Sanchez Pizjuan after Colombian forward Luis Muriel had burst into the area.

Sevilla coach Vincenzo Montella risked his reputation by playing a weakened team on Saturday against Eibar and his side were thrashed 5-1, but his gamble paid off as his side outlasted Leganes and Franco Vazquez smashed into the net from a tight angle in the 89th minute.

“We knew how to stick together when we were down and how to be a team and thanks to this we’re in the final. This will give us an important boost for the remainder of the season,” Montella told reporters.

Sevilla, five-time Copa winners, will face either Barcelona or Valencia in the final on April 21.

“We’ve reached one of our goals for this season,” Sevilla defender Gabriel Mercado said. “We still haven’t achieved anything, but this was an important goal for us. The club has been making a great effort to sign new players and there are high expectations.”

Leganes had stunned European champions Real Madrid last month to progress to the semi-finals of the domestic cup competition for the first time in the club’s 90-year history.

They kept fighting but struggled to create decent openings, managing only one shot at goalkeeper Sergio Rico, who had conceded an embarrassing own goal in the first leg.

“We are very proud of all the players as they gave everything and tried but we had an opponent in front of us who were better than us,” Leganes coach Asier Garitano said.

“When you give everything you can’t ask for anything else, we’re going to see how we react to all of this and focus on our objective of remaining in the top flight next year.”

Sevilla endured ups-and-downs since the arrival of Italian coach Montella during the winter break to replace Eduardo Berizzo after a series of disappointing results that dropped the club in the La Liga standings.

“It’s a great feeling, it’s the reward for the all the work put in,” Correa told Spanish TV station Gol, before paying tribute to Sevilla’s vanquished opponents. “[Leganes] are a team who know what they’re doing, a team worthy of a cup semi-final.”

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2018