Valencia thrash Granada in Copa del Rey tie

Valencia will take a resounding lead into the second leg of their Copa del Rey tie with Granada after a 4-0 win in the first leg at the Mestalla.

Valencia 4 Granada 0

Negredo nets early

Rodrigo fires home to double lead

Negredo nets two from the spot

Match Summary

First-half goals from Alvaro Negredo and Rodrigo had Valencia well ahead at half-time.

Negredo then netted twice from the spot to secure a hat-trick and put his side in the driving seat going into the second leg.

Full Report
It took the hosts just eight minutes to take the lead when Negredo burst into the box and fired past Ivan Kelava to open the scoring.

Valencia doubled their advantage in the 35th minute when Rodrigo slotted home from close range after latching onto a Santi Mina ball into the box.

Granada gallantly attempted to battle their way back into the game, but suffered a set-back when Uche brought Mina crashing down in the box.

Negredo made no mistake from the resulting penalty, slotting into the bottom left-hand corner to make it 3-0.

And Granada would have had a sense of deja vu when Doria, this time, fouled Negredo in the penalty area.

Once more, the striker would find the back of the net, firing into the top right-hand corner.