Real Madrid came behind before cruising to a 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter final on Thursday. Diego Forlan opened the scoring after only seven minutes at the Bernabeu, but Sergio Ramos had Real back on level terms just seven minutes later.
Cristiano Ronaldo notched up his 30th goal in all competitions this season on the hour mark, when he found himself on the end of a dangerous cross from Mesut Oezil to score from close range. And Oezil ensured Real would take a two-goal lead into the second leg on Thursday at the Estadio Vicente Calderon when he capitalised on a defensive blunder to fire home a third past David de Gea in the Atletico goal.
Elsewhere, Almeria will take a one-goal advantage into the second leg of their quarter-final tie with Deportivo La Coruna after a 1-0 win at home in the first leg. Juan Manuel Ortiz scored the only goal of the game after 34 minutes, when he picked up the ball inside the penalty area, beat a defender and sprinted to the by-line to fire a low ball across goal which took a kind deflection off a defender and into the net. The second leg will be played next Thursday at Deportivo’s Estadio Municipal de Riazor with the winner likely to face record 25-time champion Barcelona, which beat Real Betis 5-0 on Wednesday.
