Espanyol made hard work of their Copa del Rey clash with Mirandes, but struck three times late on to snatch the upper hand in the tie.

Top-flight outfit given a scare by third-tier minnows

Espanyol made hard work of their Copa del Rey clash with Mirandes, but struck three times late on to snatch the upper hand in the tie. Mirandes, against all the odds, eased into a two-goal lead, but collapsed in the final minutes to end up on the wrong end of a 3-2 defeat. The quarter-final contest is still hanging in the balance, though, and could tip either way in the return leg. Mirandes looked on course for a major upset when goals from Alain Arroyo (28) and Pablo Infante (78) put them 2-0 up in Catalunya. But the hosts staged a dramatic comeback as Vladimir Weiss pulled one back in the 85th minute, Rui Fonte levelled two minutes later and Joan Verdu completed the turnaround in the 89th minute. Segunda B leaders Mirandes now have it all to do on home soil, but the prize of a last-four showdown with either Athletic Bilbao or Real Mallorca remains within their reach.