Sorloth strikes twice as Atletico ease past Elche 4-0 into cup quarter-finals

:Striker Alexander Sorloth scored a brace as Atletico Madrid secured an easy 4-0 win at second-tier side Elche on Wednesday to book Diego Simeone's team a spot in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.

It was Atletico's 15th consecutive victory in all competitions, extending the longest winning streak in club history after Simeone broke his own record of 13 wins from 2012.

Atletico didn't miss a beat despite their Argentine manager deciding to rest several key starters at an in-form Elche, who were unbeaten since early in November, winning six of their last seven games.

With the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Julian Alvarez, Rodrigo de Paul and Jan Oblak on the bench, Atletico dominated proceedings and were never in danger, showing the same solidity in defence and effectiveness up-front that has lifted them to the top of the LaLiga standings, ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Sorloth struck home a loose ball from close range to open the scoring in the eighth minute, taking advantage of a bad mistake by Elche's defence who failed twice to clear a Marcos Llorente cross from their own penalty area.

He extended Atletico's lead from the penalty spot after winger Samuel Lino was fouled inside the box by defender Bambo Diaby in the 29th minute.

Elche were reduced to ten men when Nico Mercau received a second booking for a tactical foul on Rodrigo Riquelme to stop an Atletico counter in the 50th minute.

Substitute Riquelme scored the third with a long-range strike in the 61st, with Alvarez also coming off the bench to wrap up the win 14 minutes later, finishing from close range after goalkeeper Miguel San Roman failed to punch clear a De Paul cross.

"I am cautious about saving players' energy. We had to win to go through and I trusted