Atlético suffered much more than expected to eliminate CD Arenteiro, a Second Federation team from the Orense town of O Carballino that had just eliminated Almería. Simeone came out with the best he had but still had to deal with a power to power match. The local team took the lead on the scoreboard with a goal from Markitos, but Carrasco equalized with a penalty in the last minute of the first half.
Already at the restart, Atlético was able to take the lead at the hour of play in a dubious penalty against Carrasco, but Morata took it badly and was saved by Diego, the local goalkeeper. It had to be a youthful Pablo Barrios, who unbalanced the score by scoring from a shot from outside the area at minute 75. Carrasco made it 1-3 in added time. The party had its controversy. The referee, González Fuertes, sent off the Arenteiro coach and the field manager.
Nástic de Tarragona also qualified for the next round by beating Málaga de Segunda (2-1). Pol Domingo Ciuraneta scored for Nàstic at 13, tied for Málaga N'Diaye at 32 and the Catalan team scored the winning goal through Pablo Fernández Blanco at 81.
Today's day of the second round of the Cup also brought other surprises apart from Girona's defeat in Cáceres. Deportivo Eldense qualified by beating Burgos, from Segunda, 1-0, at the new Pepico Amat stadium in Elda. A goal by Córdoba in his own goal, shortly before the break, earned the team from Alicante to defeat Burgos. Eldense is the leader of group 2 of the First RFEF and puts the finishing touch to an unforgettable year 2022, marked by a category promotion.
Another surprise came in Linares, where the local team defeated Racing (1-0). Granada also fell at the hands of another Segunda, Oviedo (1-0).
Where the forecasts came true was in Gernika. Celta easily prevailed in the Urbieta field by winning 0-3. Carles Pérez opened the scoring after half an hour with a beautiful individual action, a diagonal that ended with a close shot from the front; Aidoo made it 0-2 at the start of the second half, heading off a corner from Carles Pérez; and De la Torre closed the score midway through the second half with a shot inside the area after a rebound.
The draw for the third round of the Cup, the round of 16, will be this Friday at 12:30 p.m. in the Ciudad del Fútbol de las Rozas. The four teams from the Spanish Super Cup will already be there: FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Betis and Valencia.
