Asensio and Isco double trouble for Melilla

Both Marco Asensio and Isco bagged braces as Real Madrid easily handled Melilla, 6-1, in the second leg of the Copa del Rey Round of 32 on Thursday afternoon at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.

The lopsided home leg victory earned Los Blancos a 10-1 win on aggregate and a place in the Round of 16. Asensio was the star of the day by scoring the first two Real goals and then adding a pair of assists. Isco was also a standout performer with two well-taken goals and was joined on the scoresheet by Javi Sanchez and Vinicius.

Given the first leg result, Real boss Santiago Solari had the luxury of rotating his squad. Goalkeeper Keylor Navas enjoyed a rare start, while youngsters like Vallejo and Javi Sanchez in defence, Federico Valverde in midfield and Vinicius and Mariano up top all got the nods. One curious note was Dani Carvajal starting at left-back so as not to risk Sergio Reguilon, who will likely back up Marcelo this weekend at Huesca.

The first half-hour had a nice flow to it, as Melilla showed plenty of spark going forward thanks to Mohamed Mizzian. The 18-year-old starlet that is on Real Madrid's radar had two good looks at goal, one of them requiring a diving save from Navas.

The Melilla defence held up well in the first half-hour but they were totally culpable on Real's opener, as they allowed Asensio way too much space to run through and the Real attacker gladly took advantage to make it 1-0.

Minutes later Vinicius atoned for his earlier miss with some fancy footwork that broke the ankles of Melilla defender Pepe Romero before feeding Asensio, who slammed home a shot to double the lead, 2-0.

The good times were rolling for Real and soon it was three as a chip from Asensio met the lunging toe of youngster Javi Sanchez, who hit it on the fly and touched it over the head of Pedro Luis and into goal to extend the lead to 3-0.

Things stayed the same in the second half and minutes after the re-start it was 4-0 after a buzzing right-footer from Isco that curled into the top left corner of the net.

The only things left in doubt for most of the second stanza was how many more goals Real would pour in and whether Melilla would get a consolation goal. It took a bit longer than expected, but Vinicius finally got his goal after some good work from Asensio, and after an initial save, the Brazilian managed to beat Pedro Luis for a 5-0 lead.

Melilla never gave up though and after a spectacular Navas save on a Brian Martin shot, the dam finally broke for the Segunda B side when Yacine converted a penalty kick after being brought down by Javi Sanchez to make it a 5-1 affair.

Real still had their foot on the gas and a late break led to Isco's second of the day, as he collected a cross from Fran Garcia and hammered home a right-footer to complete the 6-1 scoreline.

Match Sheet:

6.- Real Madrid: Keylor; Odriozola, Vallejo, Javi Sanchez, Carvajal (Dani Ceballos, min. 46); Llorente (Fran Garcia, min. 46), Isco, Valverde; Asensio, Vinicius (Fidalgo, min. 79), Mariano.

1.- Melilla: Pedro Luis; Pepe Romero, Mahanan, Richi, Jilmar; Jordi Ortega, Menudo (Brian Martin, min. 60), Ruano (Braim, min. 56), Oscar Garcia; Mizzian (Otegui, min. 46), Yacine.

Goals: 1-0, min. 33: Asensio; 2-0, min. 35: Asensio; 3-0, min. 39: Javi Sanchez; 4-0, min. 48: Isco; 5-0, min. 75: Vinicius; 5-1, min. 81: Yacine (p); 6-1, min. 83: Isco

Referee: Alberola Rojas (Castilla y La Mancha). Yellow Cards: None

Red cards: None

Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu

Attendance: 55.243