Espanyol see off Sevilla in Copa del Rey first leg

Espanyol have secured a healthy 3-1 first-leg lead against Sevilla in this evening's Copa del Rey quarter-final at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat.

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The hosts opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Felipe Caicedo struck a left-footed effort from the edge of the box into the top left-hand corner of Sergio Rico's goal.

Sergio Garcia then doubled his side's lead midway through the second half from the penalty spot, stepping up and sending the Sevilla goalkeeper the wrong way.

With just 10 minutes left to play, Espanyol made sure of the win when Lucas Vazquez collected Garcia's incisive through-ball before slotting home.

Sevilla were, however, able to reduce the deficit in injury time when Carlos Bacca kept calm following chaos in the home side's box to rifle home from six yards.

The second leg of the tie will take place at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium a week today.