MADRID, Jan 18: Girona is making a run for the Copa del Rey title, too.The Catalan club defeated Rayo Vallecano 3-1 at home Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in five years.Cristhian Stuani scored a pair of goals four minutes apart in the first half for Girona, which is the surprise leader of the Spanish league near the competition’s halfway point. It leads Real Madrid by a point having played an extra game. Girona didn’t get past the second round of the Copa last season. It was eliminated by Real Madrid 7-3 on aggregate the last time it reached the quarterfinals.
Rayo didn’t get past the round of 32 last season but the previous year made a run to the semifinals.
Stuani scored for the hosts in the 15th and 19th minutes, and Daley Blind added the third in the 26th. Rayo scored through Randy Nteka in the 36th.
OSASUNA FALLS
Osasuna, which lost last year’s final to Real Madrid, was eliminated by Real Sociedad 2-0, with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring in the 57th and Mikel Merino adding the second in stoppage time.
CELTA PREVAILS
Celta Vigo left behind its league struggles by winning 3-1 at Valencia to reach the Copa quarterfinals for the first time since 2017.
Anastasios Douvikas scored twice and Luca de la Torre added another for Celta, which sits just outside the relegation zone in the Spanish league. Pepelu scored for Valencia, a Copa finalist in 2022 and a quarterfinalist in 2023.
Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca advanced to the last eight on Tuesday. (AP)
