Valencia CF - Athletic Club

Athletic Club have reached the Copa semi-finals after defeating Valencia CF 1-2 at Mestalla. A move orchestrated by the Williams brothers, and finished off by Iñaki, sealed a victory achieved with intelligence and faith, a lot of faith.

This morale boost will mean a lot to the team. Either FC Barcelona, Real Sociedad or the winner of Real Betis vs Atlético await in the final four. But there is another key match before that, on Sunday we face Levante UD. San Mames should be buzzing.

Ernesto Valverde made ten changes from Sunday's Basque Derby. With Mestalla at full throttle, the lads needed to grind out their win.

The first half was very even. Nico Serrano, active all night, forced Nikolovski Dimitrievski into a good save. And the Lions caught a break with a Umar Sadig own goal from Robert Navarro free-kick.

The team, with the highly focused debutant Iker Monreal and Aymeric Laporte playing sixty minutes upon his, started to gain momentum after taking the lead, but quickly conceded an unexpected goal when Alex Padilla dropped a cross from Luis Rioja and Sadiq pushed it into the net.

Athletic went all out for the win in the second half. Serrano tried his luck twice, one of which was a well-timed volley which hit the side netting.

Dimitri Foulquier also gave Padilla one last scare when he hit the outside of the post.

Athletic had an opportunity to kill the tie in 75th minute, when, after a long VAR check, a penalty was given for a César Tárrega handball in the box . Mikel Jauregizar stepped up but Dimitrievski dived the right way.

It seemed the Zurrigorri players didn't have luck on their side. They couldn't find the breakthrough. But just when the match looked destined for extra time, Iñaki Williams scored the crucial goal.

The Lions keep roaring in the Copa.