体坛英语新闻：Third tier Mirandes reach semis of Spanish Copa del Rey

MADRID, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Third tier side Mirandes produced one of the biggest surprises in the history of Spain's Copa del Rey when they defeated Espanyol on Tuesday to earn a place in the semifinals of the competition.

Cesar Caneda was the hero for the home side after he scored a 92nd minute winning goal to take the side, which plays in the Segunda B in Spain, into the last four of the competition, where they will play either Athletic Club Bilbao or Mallorca, who play on Wednesday.

Mirandes went into the game needing to score one goal after a 3- 2 defeat away to Espanyol, who are currently fifth in Spain's La Liga, last week. The side from near the city of Burgos had been leading 2-0 only to concede three goals in the last five minutes in Espanyol's Cornella El Prat Stadium.

The home side were cheered on by a packed house in their Estadio de la Anduva, but Espanyol held firm in the first half and looked to have sealed their place in the semifinal when Rui Fonte put them ahead two minutes after the break.

The goal from the Portuguese striker left Mirandes needing to score twice to qualify, but the home side pulled level after 57 minutes when Pablo Infarte, who works in a bank during the day, fired past Kiko Casilla.

That was the sign for Mirandes to peg Espanyol back in their home half and the La Liga side were unable to produce a single shot in the last half hour.

However, Mirandes also struggled to create clear cut chances until deep into injury time when Caneda got his header onto a foul taken by Infarte to give his side an incredible win.

The final whistle was greeted by jubilant scenes among the Mirandes fans who invaded the pitch to celebrate what is probably the best result in the club's history.