Kounde magic, Rakitic effort hand Sevilla Copa Del Rey advantage over Barcelona

Kounde magic, Rakitic effort hand Sevilla Copa Del Rey advantage over Barcelona

 

Ter Stegen stretch to lengths to keep Wissam Ben Yedder's effort out in Barcelona's 2-0 loss to Sevilla on Wednesday. (Photo credit: GOAL)

Sevilla took a huge advantage to the second leg of their Copa Del Rey finals against Barcelona.

 

Sevilla defender Jules Kounde scored an extraordinary solo goal and Ivan Rakitic struck against his old side in a 2-0 win over Barcelona in a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Wednesday to heap massive pressure on Ronald Koeman.

 

French centre back Kounde opened the scoring in the 25th minute, dribbling from his own area and playing a one-two with a teammate before bursting past four Barca players to confidently slot past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The Barca keeper made a superb save to prevent Sergio Escudero doubling Sevilla's lead at the end of the first half but Croatia midfielder, formerly on the books of the Catalan side, Rakitic made sure of the victory with a thumping finish into the roof of the net in the 85th minute.

Barca felt they should have been awarded a penalty at 1-0 down when Jordi Alba was tripped on the edge of the area but referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz gave a free kick without checking with the VAR whether the foul had taken place inside the box.

"Everyone has told me it was a penalty," said Barca coach Ronald Koeman.

"They made a lot of fouls but clever fouls and they defended very well. I think we deserved more, we played well and created a lot of chances. I think it's a harsh result for us given what we did on the pitch."

"We put in a complete performance and the clean sheet is thanks to the work of the whole team," said Sevilla's Kounde.

"We suffered a little more in the second half but everyone stuck to the coach's plan and it paid off."

Lionel Messi could have snatched a late away goal but was thwarted by Sevilla keeper Bono and Julen Lopetegui's side saw out the win without conceding to take a big advantage into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3