Real Madrid beat sprited Leganes

Real Madrid's Spanish midfielder Marco Asensio (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the Spanish 'Copa del Rey' (King's cup) football match between Leganes and Real Madrid at the Estadio Municipal Butarque in Leganes on January 18, 2018. Pic/AFP

Real Madrid are well on the way to reaching the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey football tournament after beating Leganes 1-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final tie here. Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane stuck with the same sub-heavy squad he has been using so far in the competition, though he ended up sending in starters Luka Modric and Isco Alarcon for the final 20 minutes of Thursday's match as the visitors were struggling to create chances, reports Efe news agency.

As the minutes passed without a Real Madrid goal, Leganes dared to dream that they would finally reach the second leg of a Copa tie with something at stake. But just as the visitors seemed to be resigned to a scoreless draw, Theo Hernandez exploited an opening on the left side to dash down the field and deliver a cross to Marco Asensio, who found the back of the net in the 89th minute to give his side the upper hand heading into the second leg at the Bernabeu.

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