Madrid stun Villarreal with Spanish Cup comeback

Real Madrid rallied from two goals down to defeat Villarreal 3-2 on Thursday and advance to the Spanish Cup quarterfinals.Information Guide Nigeria

In other news, Barcelona cruised to a 5-0 victory over third-tier Ceuta, with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice.

After struggling in 2023, Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid hopes this victory is a turning point. Last Sunday, they were soundly defeated by rivals Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final.

Los Blancos appeared to be out of the cup on Thursday after Etienne Capoue and Samuel Chukwueze scored for the hosts in the first half.

After the break, however, goals by Vinicius Junior, Eder Militao, and Dani Ceballos turned the game around and sent Madrid, who last won the trophy in 2014, through.

It was yet another classic comeback from a team known for producing them.

“After a very bad first half, the second was different — we pushed, took risks, had courage,” Ancelotti told Teledeporte.JAMB Result

“I told them they had to wake up, we had lost a lot of battles, we weren’t risking much in the press, they were looking for counters but it was a risk we had to take.

“The team was not well positioned, too open, and lacked strength in the duels.”

Villarreal, who beat Real Madrid in La Liga earlier this month, got off to a flying start, with Capoue lashing home a stunning strike from Gerard Moreno’s flick into his path.

Quique Setien’s team had won six of their previous seven games and drawn the other, and they played well in the first half.

Madrid, on the other hand, appeared disheartened after their recent results and the early goal conceded.Jamb Portal

Just before halftime, the hosts doubled their lead at the Estadio de la Ceramica, with Chukwueze completing a flowing team move.

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Ancelotti responded by bringing on Ceballos and Marco Asensio, and the changes paid immediate dividends, with both players — who had previously been on the fringes this season — impressing.

Ceballos set up Vinicius to pull the first back for Madrid, which put wind in their sails.

Asensio drilled a low free-kick under the wall, but Filip Jorgensen was equal to it as Los Blancos pushed for an equalizer.

The Danish goalkeeper then parried Karim Benzema’s header, but Militao pounced on the rebound to level the game.NYSC Portal

Ceballos completed the rescue mission with a low effort from the edge of the box, set up by Asensio.

“The team knew how to stay alive in the game and luckily we could turn it around,” match-winner Ceballos told Teledeporte.

“We want to dominate matches and lately we have not been capable of doing it, we’ve had a lot of games in a row, many players coming back from the World Cup, and now we will improve.”

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