Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid 1 – 2 Full Highlights – 17/05/2013 – Copa Del Rey

Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid 1 – 2 Full Highlights – 17/05/2013 – Copa Del Rey [ad_1]

Atletico Madrid, who have not defeated cross-city rivals Real Madrid since 1999, found an extra time winner in a wild game to defeat Los Merengues 2-1 and win the Copa del Rey.

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What was likely Jose Mourinho’s last big game as manager of Real Madrid ended in the worst way possible for Los Merengues. Mourinho was sent off in the 75th minute and Atletico Madrid went on to score an extra time winner to defeat their rivals 2-1 and lift the Copa del Rey.

The game was an uneventful one until Cristiano Ronaldo fired Real Madrid into the lead in the 14th minute. Atletico has the best defensive record in Spain, but their defense failed them on a corner. Ronaldo lost Joao Miranda easily in the center of the box and nodded past a helpless Thibaut Courtois.

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Atletico Madrid responded positively and had a couple of half-chances in the immediate aftermath of the goal. They went on to find their equalizer in the 35th minute, on an excellent counter attack. Radamel Falcao stepped up to pick up the ball near the halfway line and was closed down by Raul Albiol, who couldn’t get the ball off him. Falcao beat him twice before playing a through ball to Diego Costa, who had started his run early, catching out the rest of the Madrid defense. His shot was well-placed, but Diego Lopez could have done a lot better to stop it from rolling past him to level the score at 1-1.

Just before the stroke of halftime, Mesut Özil hit the post for Madrid with a fantastic volley. From 25 yards out, he hit a strike that swerved after bouncing off the turf in the box, then struck the upright to the left of Courtois. It would be one of three unlucky strikes of the post on the night for Madrid.

Their next hit of the woodwork came in the 61st minute, on the first real scoring chance of the second half for either team. Ronaldo played Karim Benzema in on goal, and he looked to have beaten Courtois, but found the post instead. Özil picked up the rebound and looked to have scored, but his effort was cleared off the line by Juanfran.

Ronaldo had Madrid’s third strike of the post in the 68th minute on a brilliant free kick. He’s one of the best in the world at getting the ball up and down over the wall quickly, and Atletico’s wall jumped to block it accordingly. Except, this time, Ronaldo intelligently placed a low shot under the wall. He had the keeper beaten, but found the upright instead of the goal. Michael Essien had a chance on the follow-up, but skied it.

Tempers started to flare as the game got more physical from that point forward, and Jose Mourinho was sent off for leaving his penalty area to argue with the referee in the 75th minute. In the 90th minute, Ronaldo kicked Juanfran, but the referee failed to spot it. Atletico had a series of set pieces before the end of regular time, but failed to score, and the teams headed for extra time.

Real Madrid made all three of their substitutions before the start of extra time, bringing on Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain and Alvaro Arbeloa for Luka Modric, Karim Benzema and Fabio Coentrao. Unfortunately for Madrid, they didn’t work out positively in the slightest. Atleti was the better side in the first extra time period and eventually found a winning goal.

In the 99th minute, Koke found Miranda with a great cross to the near post. Diego Lopez took a step off his line, making it impossible for him to make a stop on the Atleti defender’s narrow angle header, perfectly placed high and to the near post to fire Atletico Madrid into the lead.

Los Merengues had chances to force penalties, but Courtois came up with two world class saves to keep his side in front and secure their victory. He made a stunning stop from close range on an Higuain volley in the 104th minute, then an even better kick save in the 109th minute on a shot from Özil.

A scuffle broke out in the second extra time period which saw Ronaldo sent off, perhaps incorrectly, but also perhaps in what was a bit of justice for the referee’s failure to spot his foul on Juanfran. Gabi committed a foul on Ronaldo, who retaliated with a kick out in frustration. He didn’t make contact with Gabi, who took a dive to sell Ronaldo’s infraction and the referee bought it, showing Ronaldo a straight red card. The incident caused a fight to break out on the sidelines, with Pepe, Diego Simeone and Diego Costa involved in a shoving match with some shots thrown. Ultimately, none of them were disciplined.

With just 10 men, Real Madrid found it difficult to push for an equalizer, and Atletico Madrid held on to lift the Copa del Rey in Real Madrid’s stadium.

Copa del Rey

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