<p>Third-tier Mirandes’ fairytale King's Cup runs looked in danger of ending after Fernando Llorente scored twice to give visiting Athletic Bilbao a 2-1 win in their semifinal first leg on Tuesday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Having disposed of La Liga clubs Villarreal, Racing Santander and Espanyol in previous rounds, the lowly club from Miranda de Ebro are dreaming of a final against Barcelona or Valencia. <br /><br />However, they were rocked on their heels when Llorente netted his fifth goal in two games to put the visitors two ahead. <br /><br />The burly Spain striker, who fired a hat-trick in Sunday's 3-2 La Liga win at Rayo Vallecano, nodded home a fine Oscar De Marcos centre for a 17th-minute lead. <br /><br />The festive atmosphere on a chilly northern Spanish night at Mirandes’ 6,000-capacity stadium dampened further when Llorente drilled a low shot into the bottom corner. <br /><br />However, Mirandes, who have an annual budget of just over 1.2 million euros ($1.6 million) compared to Bilbao’s of around 60 million, came out fighting in the second half and Hartiz Mujika clipped the top of the crossbar in the 64th minute. <br /><br />Bilbao goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz pulled off a brilliant save from Alvaro Corral's volley 15 minutes from time as the home side pressed forward. <br /><br />Their efforts were finally rewarded in the first minute of added time when Ander Lambarri drove an angled shot into the far corner. <br /><br />The goal gave Mirandes a sliver of hope they can turn the tie around at the San Mames next week but Llorente was confident Bilbao would be able to hold them off. <br /><br />"Conceding at the end was a shame as 2-0 would have been a great result but 2-1 is pretty good too," he told Spanish television. <br /><br />"We really want to reward our fans with a trip to the final and let's see if we have luck in the return leg," he added.</p>
<p>Third-tier Mirandes’ fairytale King's Cup runs looked in danger of ending after Fernando Llorente scored twice to give visiting Athletic Bilbao a 2-1 win in their semifinal first leg on Tuesday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Having disposed of La Liga clubs Villarreal, Racing Santander and Espanyol in previous rounds, the lowly club from Miranda de Ebro are dreaming of a final against Barcelona or Valencia. <br /><br />However, they were rocked on their heels when Llorente netted his fifth goal in two games to put the visitors two ahead. <br /><br />The burly Spain striker, who fired a hat-trick in Sunday's 3-2 La Liga win at Rayo Vallecano, nodded home a fine Oscar De Marcos centre for a 17th-minute lead. <br /><br />The festive atmosphere on a chilly northern Spanish night at Mirandes’ 6,000-capacity stadium dampened further when Llorente drilled a low shot into the bottom corner. <br /><br />However, Mirandes, who have an annual budget of just over 1.2 million euros ($1.6 million) compared to Bilbao’s of around 60 million, came out fighting in the second half and Hartiz Mujika clipped the top of the crossbar in the 64th minute. <br /><br />Bilbao goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz pulled off a brilliant save from Alvaro Corral's volley 15 minutes from time as the home side pressed forward. <br /><br />Their efforts were finally rewarded in the first minute of added time when Ander Lambarri drove an angled shot into the far corner. <br /><br />The goal gave Mirandes a sliver of hope they can turn the tie around at the San Mames next week but Llorente was confident Bilbao would be able to hold them off. <br /><br />"Conceding at the end was a shame as 2-0 would have been a great result but 2-1 is pretty good too," he told Spanish television. <br /><br />"We really want to reward our fans with a trip to the final and let's see if we have luck in the return leg," he added.</p>