2/1/2007

MADRID (Reuters) - Getafe took a giant stride towards booking their place in the last four of the King’s Cup with an authoritative 3-0 win over Osasuna in the first leg of their quarter-final on Wednesday.

First half goals from the in-form Daniel Guiza and centre-back Alexis together with an opportunist strike from Maris Verpakovskis put Bernd Schuster’s side in the driving seat in their first appearance at this stage of the competition.

Getafe striker Guiza, who scored both his side’s goals in their 2-0 league win over Osasuna on Sunday, continued his rich run of recent form in front of goal when he headed in after a corner in the 11th minute.

Alexis made it 2-0 when he rose above the Osasuna defence to head in from another corner six minutes before the break.

Latvia striker Verpakovskis took advantage of a dreadful error from Osasuna keeper Ricardo to side-foot into the empty net in the second half after the former Manchester United player let a ballooning cross slip through his fingers.