Bilbao reach King’s Cup final

ATHLETIC Bilbao ended tiny Mirandes’s remarkable run with a ruthless 6-2 win in their King’s Cup semifinal second leg on Tuesday to reach the final.

Thursday, February 09, 2012

ATHLETIC Bilbao ended tiny Mirandes’s remarkable run with a ruthless 6-2 win in their King’s Cup semifinal second leg on Tuesday to reach the final.Iker Muniain, Markel Susaeta and Jon Aurtenetxe scored inside the opening 22 minutes at San Mames, quickly extinguishing any chance of another giant-killing feat from their plucky visitors.Fernando Llorente scored twice in four second-half minutes, after Mirandes had pulled one back through defender Aitor Blanco, who also grabbed their second near the end.Cesar Caneda put the ball in his own net two minutes from time as Bilbao, who have won the Cup 23 times, progressed 8-3 on aggregate.Mirandes, who play in Spain’s Segunda B, knocked out top-flight sides Villarreal, Racing Santander and Espanyol to reach the last four, and were the second team only from the third tier to do so in the competition’s current format.