Atletico Madrid beat Sevilla 1-0 on Thursday to book a place in Spain’s Copa del Rey semifinals thanks to a goal by Dutch forward Memphis Depay.
The match saw more drama involving video review, after Sevilla had a late penalty for a foul on Erik Lamela waived off following a VAR check at the pitchside monitor by the head referee. The incident came on the heels of several disputed VAR rulings in Real Madrid’s win over Almeria in LaLiga.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
The home side dominated the first half but failed to score, the best chance coming from a penalty for a foul that Antoine Griezmann failed to convert after slipping.
The French forward had a chance to redeem himself in the second half, but his effort was disallowed for offside in the 60th minute and Atletico had another effort ruled out after a Depay breakaway.
Depay found the net in the 79th when Angel Correa’s through ball slipped between Sergio Ramos‘s legs to secure the win.
“We didn’t play how we wanted in the first half,” said Atleti coach Diego Simeone. “The changes I made [to bring in Angel Correa and Memphis Depay] worked well and gave us more speed. We were fortunate that it worked out. We were lucky that Correa assisted and Depay scored.”
Sevilla could have equalised in stoppage time after Pablo Barrios’s slide tackle on Lamela earned them a penalty, but the decision was overturned.
“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 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 semifinals 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.
Following the match, Sevilla coach Quique Sanchez Flores mourned the death of two Sevilla fans that died in a car accident earlier on Thursday while travelling to Madrid to watch the game. A minute’s silence was observed before kickoff.
“I don’t want to talk about football today because we are very saddened by the news of the death of our fans,” the Sevilla coach said. “I just want to give my condolences to the families, to the Sevilla fans.
“We played in a day that we were mourning the death of two fans.”
The Copa del Rey semifinal draw will be made on Friday.