Espanyol manager, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Manuel-c23383 Pochettino, praised Mirandes after winning the Copa del Rey quarterfinal first leg at the Cornella El-Prat.
The Catalan side’s manager breathed a sigh of relief as referee Mateu Lahoz blew the full time whistle, as his team managed a brilliant fight back in the last five minutes of normal time.
Alain http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arroyo-c6665 gave the Segunda Division B side the lead against the run of play. Pablo Infante doubled the lead in the second half with fifteen minutes left.
However, an inspired performance by Los Periquitos in the final moments of the match opened the two legged affair. On-loan striker from Manchester City, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vladimir-c36322 Weiss, started the comeback with five minutes of normal time remaining.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rui-Fonte-c31900 added the second in the space of two minutes, while Joan Verdu’s 89thminute strike gave the hosts a much needed home win.
Manuel Pochettino praised the performance of Mirandes and stated that they bring the worst out of their opponents.
"Removing the last 10 minutes we did not have a good match. They are very complicated, have never lost to a team in the cup and bring out the worst in each of the rivals they face.”
The tactician was happy with the end result, claiming that he had resigned to losing after the second goal.
"Nobody expected this result, not even myself. In the end we had a prize, naturally sought," he said.
"It's been our remarkable strength at all times and it was not easy. It is worthy of praise to watch the game until 84."
He exclaimed that they were the poor team for the majority of the match barring the last ten minutes. Pochettino admitted that they were put against the ropes by Mirandes, who lost their advantage in the final stages of the match.
The Espanyol coach stated that despite the advantage for the second leg, they have serious work to do and will work on their deficiencies.
“If we analyze the result gives us an advantage for the second leg, but we will do a lot of criticism."
Pochettino also revealed Espanyol’s plans to add another striker to the roster after injuries to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Walter-Pandiani-c36613.
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