Carvalho gives Betis in Copa semi-final

Surrounded by defenders inside the area, William Carvalho came up with a solution that would make most top strikers proud.

Without panicking, the Real Betis midfielder pulled off a neat nutmeg to get past the defender standing in front of him, sending the ball in-between his legs before calmly firing a low shot into the back of the net.

The goal gave Betis a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Wednesday, putting the Sevilla club in position to return to the final for the first time since 2005.

The second leg will be played in Sevilla on March 3. In the first leg of the other semi-final on Thursday, Athletic Bilbao host Valencia looking to make it to their third straight final.

Rayo opened the scoring five minutes into the match at its Vallecas Stadium with a close-range header by Alvaro Garcia. Betis equalised in the 26th with a low shot from outside the area by forward Borja Iglesia.

Carvalho's winner came in the 68th after the nifty move to get past Rayo defender Alejandro Catena and set up the second goal of the season for the Portuguese midfielder.

Betis won their second Copa title in 2005 but haven'tt lifted any major trophy since then.

The team has been revamped since the arrival of veteran Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini in 2020. They sits third in the Spanish league and advanced to the knockout rounds of the Europa League.

Rayo was playing in the Copa semi-finals for the first time since 1982 and are trying to reach the final for the first time in their history.

The modest Madrid club entered the semi-finals boasting one of the best home records in Spanish soccer, with nine wins and only one loss from 12 matches at Vallecas Stadium.

They had lost only once in their last