MADRID: Girona swept past fifth-division Club Deportivo Extremadura 4-0 to reach the Spanish Copa del Rey second round on Wednesday as several matches were postponed after flash floods swept the eastern region of Valencia, killing at least 95 people.

The games featuring Valencia, Levante, Manises, Jove Espanol and Hercules de Alicante have been rescheduled after authorities advised against all non-essential travel in the region.

A depleted Girona missing up to 13 players due to injuries had no problems beating lowly Extrem­adura thanks to a brace by Bojan Miovski and goals from Bryan Gil and Arnau Martinez.

Girona manager Michel had to call up seven academy players to the trip to Badajoz and even before Gil opened the scoring with a strike from the edge of the box in the 12th minute, he had more bad news as striker Arnaut Danjuma was forced out of the match with a leg injury.

Despite dominating proceedings, it was not until Miovski’s header in the 58th minute that Girona extended their lead and the Macedonian forward scored the third four minutes later before Martinez completed the rout from long range.

Earlier on Wednesday, former Leicester and Manc­h­ester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho scored twice to help La Liga side Sevilla beat fifth division Las Rozas and Celta

Vigo overcame UD San Pedro 5-1 also to advance.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2024