Dani Martin's 37th-minute equalizer gave
Real Betis a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid on Thursday and eliminated the
Spanish powerhouse from the Copa del Rey.
Madrid, which led at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Robinho's fifht-minute
goal, went out on away goals as last week's first leg of the fifth round
meeting ended goalless.
Betis advanced into the quarterfinals while Madrid, which hasn't won
Spain's knockout competition since 1993, was knocked out again.
Betis, in 18th place in the 20-team first division, will join FC
Barcelona, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Deportivo La Coruna, Getafe, Osasuna and
second-division Valladolid in the last eight.
The game was twice halted briefly for crowd trouble in the final moments.
The annulment of Madrid defender Ivan Helguera's headed goal for offside,
resulted in the linesman who flagged the offense to be hit on the
shoulder by a plastic bottle thrown from the crowd.
The game again was stopped by the referee in injury time when a mobile
phone was thrown onto the field.
A touchline clash between both teams moments later also resulted in a
short stoppage just before the final whistle.
Robinho gave Madrid the lead by taking advantage of slack marking to
fire home after Jose Antonio Reyes had taken a swift corner. The goal
was the Brazil forward's first since Oct. 28.
Betis gave Madrid a scare in the 34th when Juan "Melli" Andreu's free
kick was deflected onto the bar by goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
Three minutes later, Dani ran in to nod the visitors' equalizer after
Francisco Jose Maldonado had left Lopez stranded by heading the ball
across goal.
With Betis in position to advance, Madrid didn't threaten until the
closing stages when defender Sergio Ramos twice just missed with headers.
Madrid's defeat added to an already tough week for the club, whose
president Ramon Calderon was forced to apologize after criticizing David
Beckham and the rest of the team two days earlier.
Beckham, who may not play for the club after announcing a week ago that
he would join Los Angeles Galaxy in August, was described as a Hollywood
movie-star hopeful by Calderon, who added Madrid's players were vain and
egotistical.
Ronaldo and Antonio Cassano, who have been declared by the club as
surplus, also were omitted from Thursday's roster, while seven other
players were missing with injuries including captain Raul Gonzalez and
left back Roberto Carlos. |