Tuesday 1 December 2015 22:37, UK
Atletico Madrid survived an early scare against lowly Reus Deportiu to secure a 2-1 win in Tuesday night's Copa del Rey clash.
The home side, who are top of Segunda B Group 3 after a run of just one defeat in 15 matches, weathered some early pressure by Diego Simeone's team, with some seven changes to the starting XI, as Argentine forward Angel Correa forced a good save from Edgar Badia.
Reus, though, swept into the lead after 30 minutes following a costly mistake by teenage defender Lucas Hernandez.
The 19-year-old failed to deal with a pass behind the backline, completely missing his kick which allowed Fran Carbia to latch onto the loose ball and slot past Miguel Moya at the near post as the Estadio Camp Nou Municipal erupted.
That joy, however, lasted only six minutes as Luciano Vietto soon headed in a deep right-wing cross from Oliver Torres, with the home defence appealing for offside.
Atletico, who have not lost in 10 matches across all competitions, maintained their momentum in the second half and went ahead on 63 minutes.
Koke, captain for the night, sent in a corner from the left, which 21-year-old midfielder Saul met at the near post with a backward header, and the ball looped over Moya into the net.
Atletico almost made it 3-1 during the closing stages following a quick counter which put Vietto into the Reus penalty area, but Edgar was able to make the block to give the Segunda B side some slim hope heading into the return leg at the Vicente Calderon later this month.
In Tuesday's other game, Granada suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Segunda Division Leganes and had midfielder Ruben Perez sent off.
The La Liga strugglers, who are 17th in the table following only one win in the past 11 matches, fell behind to an early goal by Guillermo, the on-loan Bilbao striker producing a neat finish after the ball broke kindly in the box.
Leganes, with just one defeat in 12 outings, grew in confidence and frustrations boiled over for the visitors as Perez was shown a straight red card following a tussle with winger Ruben Pena.
The night got worse for the Granada when goalkeeper Ivan Kelava was beaten again five minutes before half-time, Omar Ramos firing the ball in with a swerving effort from the right side of the penalty area.
Granada regrouped for the second half, and netted what could be a crucial away goal with 16 minutes left.
A corner was cleared only out to the edge of the Leganes penalty area, from where midfielder Fran Rico lashed a low half-volley back through the crowd of players and into the bottom left side.
Leganes had a chance to restore their two-goal advantage when substitute Lluis Sastre was played through late on, but this time Kelava was out quickly to make a smart reaction save with his chest to leave the tie very much in the balance.
