Levante’s physicality overcame Varea after the break

Levante qualified for the second round of the Copa del Rey by beating Varea 0-3 in a clash that was resolved in the second half due to the physical superiority of the Valencian team.

Varea showed their will, played a “decorative” game and even had a chance to score, but when their strength began to fail, they became evident against a rival with more individual quality and a game system designed to take advantage of their physical superiority. .

However, the first half was more balanced than one would expect between a professional football team and another from the category territory of Rioja, where only two players have experience in higher competitions.

But Varea knew how to rally their goalkeeper and Levante, no matter how much they dominated and had good finishes, they were not comfortable; So the minutes passed and the Rioja team began to trust itself, so in the 37th minute it even created a danger, not much, with Benito’s boot.

The game was different from the beginning of the second half, which started with Riojans’ best chance, a long-range shot by Cabrera that forced a good intervention by Femenías.

But the truth is that Levante became more aggressive and sought the leading role for Carlos Álvarez, who was the best in the match thanks to his movements between the lines, which were never stopped by the Varea defender.

He was the scorer of the first goal, just six minutes after the break, in an action that ended with overtaking the Riojan goalkeeper.

A few minutes later, his teammate Rober Ibáñez sealed the match with the second goal by accurately finishing a pass he received from distance.

Varea was tired and every arrival of Levante was dangerous, so the third goal was expected, which came with almost a quarter of an hour left in a pass from the edge to the side of the Rioja area, with no response from to defenders. , where Dani Gómez finished brilliantly with the first ball he touched.

Levante then chose to rest a bit and the game did not lead to more, except for a shot by Rioja defender Londoño where Femenía avoided the goal with a not too difficult save.