Real turn tables on Malaga; Santander, Levante beaten

Jan 3, 2012, 23:46 GMT

Madrid - Real Madrid came from behind to beat lively Malaga 3-2 on Tuesday in an action-packed third-round first leg in the Spanish King's Cup.

Real, the cup holders, made a sluggish start to the game and were down 2-0 within half an hour, after Sergio Sanchez and Martin Demichelis had headed in two corners from Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla.

The second half was a completely different affair, with the hosts creating chance after chance - and scoring three goals within 10 minutes.

Germany midfielder Sami Khedira started the fightback in the 69th minute. Straight afterward, Gonzalo Higuain put away a clever equalizer after an appalling back-pass from Sanchez.

Eleven minutes from time, Higuain set up Karim Benzema with an inspired back-heel, and the France forward made it 3-2 with a low drive.

The second leg will be played January 9 in Malaga.

Racing Santander surprisingly crashed 2-0 on Tuesday at third-division side Mirandes, who already eliminated Zaragoza in the second round.

Alcorcon, another third-division side, scored a 2-1 upset over Levante, who are fourth in La Liga. Athletic Bilbao could only manage a 0-0 draw at third-division Albacete.

European champions Barcelona will play Wednesday at home to Osasuna. The winner of that tie will play the winner of the Real-Malaga tie in the quarter-finals.