Easy away wins for Barca, Valencia in Copa del Rey

Madrid, Oct 31 (IANS)

FC Barcelona strolled to a comfortable 3-0 win against Deportivo Alaves in the first leg of the third round of the Spanish Copa del Rey while Valencia overcame Llagostera without much difficulty.

Goals from David Villa and Andres Iniesta took the reigning Copa del Rey champions to victory Tuesday against the third tier Basque side that is best known for its appearance in the final of the 2001 UEFA Cup, reports Xinhua.

Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova fielded a strong side with Sergio Busquets, Dani Alves and Javier Mascherano all in the side along with the goalscorers.

Alaves, the home side, were cheered on by a full capacity crowd and made life hard for Barca until Villa opened the scoring with a good finish from an Iniesta pass.

Iniesta made the game safe five minutes into the second half and Cesc Fabregas added a third in the last minute to make sure that the return leg in Barcelona will be a mere obligation with Alaves having to bridge a three-goal deficit.

Valencia also virtually assured their progress into the last 16 with a 2-0 win away to third tier side Llagostera.

On a rain soaked artificial pitch, Valencia relied on remaining tight in defence.

Jonas Goncalves opened the scoring with a header from a free kick just before the break, while Nelson Valdez headed home from a corner with 22 minutes remaining.

LLagostera had a chance to get back into the game eight minutes from time, but Marc Sellares sent his spot kick against the post.