Espanyol beats Sevilla 3-1 in Copa del Rey 1st leg quarters

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Forward Sergio Garcia scored one goal and set up another to lead Espanyol's exciting 3-1 win over Sevilla on Thursday to take a lead in their Copa del Rey quarterfinal.

Felipe Caicedo opened the scoring in Barcelona when he quickly pivoted before firing an untouchable strike from the edge of the area into the top corner of the goal in the 18th minute. It was the striker's fourth goal in his last three matches after he also scored twice to help knock Valencia out of the last 16.

Garcia converted a penalty in the 74th after Alejandro Arribas used his hand to intercept a pass in the area. He then passed for substitute Lucas Vazquez to score on the break with nine minutes left.

Sevilla threw everyone forward looking for a valuable away goal to improve its chances of rallying in next week's away leg, and it found it when substitute Carlos Bacca blasted in a loose ball following a melee near the goal-line.

"It seems like we are supposed to be sad for allowing their late goal, but not at all. We should put this game in a picture frame," Espanyol coach Sergio Gonzalez said. "Our fans should be very happy and proud of their team."

Denis Suarez almost grabbed a second goal for Sevilla in the dying moments, only to see his shot land on the top of the netting for a third time in the match.

"I don't know how to describe the match," Sevilla manager Unai Emery said. "Our goal turned a very bad game by us into simply a bad game by us, and it gives us a chance to do important things in our stadium."

The away leg will be in Seville next Thursday.

The winner will face either Athletic Bilbao or Malaga next. They drew 0-0 at Malaga on Wednesday.

On the other side of the bracket, Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 at home on Wednesday, while Villarreal edged Getafe 1-0 also in the home leg.