LEON, Spain — With Nacho Fernandez stealing the show with a spectacular scissor-kick goal in the second half, Real Madrid cruised to a 7-1 win over third-division Cultural Leonesa in its Copa del Rey debut on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time), despite playing without most of its top players.
Marco Asensio and Alvaro Morata scored two goals each to virtually guarantee Madrid a spot in the round of 16. The return match is Nov. 30 at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid.
"We had to stay focused from the start and we played a good match," Asensio said.
Madrid also scored with an own goal by defender Gianni Zuiverloon early in the game and a late header by youngster Mariano Diaz.
But it was Fernandez's amazing strike in the 68th that attracted all the attention at the Reino de Leon stadium in northern Spain.
After a cross by James Rodriguez from the right flank, Fernandez jumped into the air just inside the area and turned his body sideways to fire a firm right-foot scissor-kick volley into the top of the net.
As Nacho celebrated, Rodriguez took both hands to his head in apparent disbelief, and coach Zinedine Zidane looked amazed as he turned to the bench and smiled broadly.
"That was not normal," Zidane said. "It's a goal that will go down in history."
Cultural Leonesa, which played in Spain's first division for the only time in the 1955-56 season, scored its lone goal through Benja Martinez in the 83rd minute, with his team trailing 6-0.
"We tried to play our game, but they are infinitely superior," Leonesa player Alejando Gallar said.
Zidane rested most of Madrid's top stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema. Among those who played were Pepe, Dani Carvajal and Toni Kroos.
Madrid plays at Alaves on Saturday to try to defend its Spanish league lead.
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