THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MADRID, Spain — Gerard Pique’s second-half header proved the winner as 24-time champion Barcelona weathered an Espanyol rally for a 3-2 victory that put it into the Copa del Rey semifinals on Thursday.
Pique headed in Daniel Alves’ cross at the far post in the 56th minute to give Barcelona a 3-0 lead at Camp Nou following a pair from Bojan Krkic.
Then Ferran (Coro) Corominas and Jose Callejon scored from long shots as Espanyol looked to even the score against its crosstown rival and go through to play Mallorca on the away-goal rule.
But the struggling La Liga team couldn’t score again against the Spanish leader, whose treble trophy bid continues after it advanced by the same aggregate score.
Elsewhere, Sebastien Squillaci’s 90th-minute goal eliminated defending champion Valencia and lifted Sevilla to a 2-1 win.
Squillaci’s swat at a loose ball inside the box squeezed between several Valencia players for Sevilla to advance on away goals after the two-leg tie finished 4-4.
Sevilla will meet 23-time champion Athletic Bilbao in the semifinals after the Basque club beat Sporting 2-1 overall on Wednesday.
At Camp Nou, Espanyol pressed heavily in hope of counterattacking off a Barcelona turnover, but it was the host which nearly went ahead in the 18th only for Eidur Gudjohnsen’s goal to be waved offside.
Cristian Alvarez failed to hold Silvinho’s low shot in the 35th and Krkic timed his run through the area perfectly to push the rebound in.
Xavi Hernandez jumped on an Espanyol slip-up to slide Krkic clear through along the left and the teenage striker skipped a soft chip over Alvarez, who replaced benched goalkeeper Carlos Kameni.
Barcelona’s passage to the next round looked assured after Pique reached Alves’ cross but, two minutes later, Coro struck a bouncing ball from outside the area that took a slight deflection to go over Barcelona goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto.
Callejon sent a rising shot right through Pinto’s arms in the 69th to close on Barcelona, which nearly had a fourth through substitute Andres Iniesta in the 81st.
Espanyol finished with 10 after Daniel Jarque picked up a second booking in the 90th.
At the Roman Sanchez Pizjuan, Carlos Marchena headed in Joaquin Sanchez’s corner after eight minutes as Valencia enjoyed early control in a matchup of the past two cup holders.
Frederic Kanoute rushed a shot in the 11th with the Mali striker clear through with space to allow Valencia goalkeeper Cesar Sanchez to easily save.
But Kanoute tied the score in the 36th by heading Ndri Romaric’s free kick and bouncing it beyond Cesar Sanchez.
Kanoute’s goal provided the spark for Sevilla, with Cesar Sanchez saving Luis Fabiano from point-blank in the 38th after Kanoute put the Brazil striker clear on goal.
Soon after, Cesar Sanchez saved a low shot from Fabiano before Aquivaldo Mosquera headed wide from a tight angle in the 53rd.
Cesar Sanchez, making his first start since a transfer from Tottenham, rushed out in the 76th to block Fabiano’s quick shot and saved another attempt from close in but couldn’t reach Squillaci’s floater.
On Wednesday, Mallorca drew with Real Betis 0-0 to win 1-0 on aggregate.