MADRID-- Atletico Madrid beat Sevilla 1-0 on Thursday to book a place in the Spanish Copa del Rey semi-finals thanks to a goal by Dutch forward Memphis Depay.
The home side dominated the first half but failed to score, the best chance coming from a penalty which Antoine Griezmann failed to convert after slipping. The France international had a chance to redeem himself in the second half, but his effort was disallowed for offside. Depay scored in the 79th when Angel Correa's through ball slipped between Sergio Ramos's legs to secure the win. Sevilla could have equalised in stoppage time after Pablo Barrios's slide tackle on Erik Lamela earned them a penalty, but a VAR review overturned the decision. "That last play showed Pablo (Barrios) not to take unnecessary risks. It's good that it happened to him and that there were no consequences in the end," said coach Diego Simeone. "We have made a great effort to be where we are and in the second half we had a different tempo, we played more risky and the changes gave us the jump we needed," he added. Athletic Bilbao reached the semi-finals after knocking out Barcelona 4-2, Mallorca eliminated LaLiga leaders Girona 3-2 and Real Sociedad made the last four with a 2-1 win over Celta Vigo. The semi-final draw will be made on Friday.
