Espanyol close to King's Cup semis after 3-1 win over Sevilla

Madrid: Espanyol secured a commanding lead in their King`s Cup quarter-final tie against Sevilla when Felipe Caicedo, Sergio Garcia, with a penalty, and Lucas Vazquez scored in a 3-1 first-leg home win on Thursday.

In-form Ecuador forward Caicedo cracked a superb shot into the top corner in the 18th minute to put Espanyol ahead at their Power8 stadium in Barcelona and captain Garcia put away a spot kick in the 74th after an Alejandro Arribas handball.

As Sevilla pressed in an attempt to force their way back into the game, Garcia sped forward and set up Lucas Vazquez to slot in the hosts` third goal nine minutes from time.

Sevilla, the 2010 winners, slightly improved their chances of overturning the deficit in next Thursday`s second leg when substitute Carlos Bacca pulled a goal back after a goalmouth scramble in the first minute of added time.

The winners of the tie will play Athletic Bilbao or Malaga, who drew 0-0 in Wednesday`s first leg on the south coast, for a place in the final.

On the other side of the draw, Barcelona, the record winners, seized control of their last-eight tie against Atletico Madrid when Lionel Messi`s late strike secured a 1-0 first-leg success at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.

Villarreal won by the same scoreline at home to Getafe thanks to a free kick from captain Bruno Soriano.