BARCELONA, Spain -- A first-half goal from Karim Benzema guided Real Madrid to a 1-0 win at Espanyol in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal on Tuesday. Len Dawson Jersey . Nine days after Madrid eked out a 1-0 victory at Espanyols Cornella-El Prat Stadium in the Spanish league, the visitors were again limited to the narrowest of winning margins -- despite dominating the first half, when Cristiano Ronaldo hit the post before Benzema headed home in the 25th minute. The second half was more evenly matched and Espanyols Sergio Garcia came close to an equalizer before Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas denied Jhon Cordoba in a one-on-one in the 83rd minute. "Espanyol played better in the second half and made us suffer, but that is normal," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "The tie isnt decided." Casillas had a quiet first half, with Espanyol only mustering one clear scoring chance in the 18th when Luis "Pizzi" Afonso wasted Garcias pass by sailing his close-range shot over the crossbar. Early on, Ronaldo appeared eager as ever to add to his season tally of 31 goals in all competitions. He had four shots before halftime and hit the post with one of them in the 21st minute, but the new Ballon dOr winner faded in the second half. Benzema broke the deadlock when the France international headed a cross from Alvaro Arbeloa that was flicked on by Gareth Bale. Goalkeeper Kiko Casilla got a hand on the ball but couldnt keep it out. Espanyol pressed forward after halftime and Garcia twice shot wide, while Casilla stopped Arbeloa twice before denying Benzema on the break. The closing stages swung back in Espanyols favour and Casillas was forced to rush out to stop substitute Cordoba before weathering a final barrage of corner kicks. Ancelotti praised Casillas, who only starts in the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, while Diego Lopez plays in the Spanish league. "I want to congratulate Casillas because he is playing well," Ancelotti said. "Iker is just as much a starter as Diego Lopez." In other first legs this week, Barcelona visits Levante on Wednesday, when third-tier Racing Santander plays at Real Sociedad. Defending champion Atletico Madrid hosts Athletic Bilbao on Thursday. The second legs will be played next week. Marcus Allen Jersey . -- The court fight over NFL concussions should heat up soon as a judge in Philadelphia weighs the fairness of the proposed $765 million settlement. Joe Montana Jersey . They say things like "stress is when you dont know what youre doing" and "I wasnt hired to motivate players, I was hired to coach motivated players." They ring as true now as they did when Mularkey heard them the first time playing tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame coach 25 years ago. http://www.thechiefsshoponline.com/Youth-Len-Dawson-Chiefs-Jersey/ . Appearing on TSN 1050 on Tuesday, Sean McAdam of Comcast SportsNet New England reported that the Blue Jays, along with a number of other playoff contenders were in the mix for the Boston ace.HOUSTON -- Tim Visser scored a try in the 14th minute, and Scotland added a penalty try later in the first half in a 24-6 victory over the United States on Saturday night at BBVA Stadium. Scotlands Greg Laidlaw made one of two penalty kicks and all three conversions, and Stuart Hogg added a try in the second half. "The most important thing to come out of the game is that we did not get scored against," Laidlaw said. "That was very important. We are happy to get the win. We left a couple tries out there. We did our talking on the field, and we are pleased to get off to a good start on the tour." Chris Wyles connected on two of three penalty kicks for the Americans. "I think the game tonight never really picked up momentum, certainly not from our side, but I mean in general, there were many stop-starts there," U.S. coach Mike Tolkin said. "We needed to add more urgency to it. The first half we were too aggressive where we shouldnt have been and got stupid penalties. Early on we werent aggressive where we needed to be. Overall, we didnt do a good job of holding on to the ball." Scotland controlled the possession and kept the U.S. away from the try-zone for most of the match The match was the first for Vern Cotter as Scotlands coach. Cotter was pleased to see his team score several tries without giving up any. "We are happy to get a win in difficult conditions," Cotter said in reference to the temperatures in the 80s. "I thought we showed good struccture in the first part of the first half and gave ourselves a few opportunities to score a couple of tries. Mecole Hardman Chiefs Jersey. Our scrum got the better of their scrum, which gave us an area to get a good grip of the game and gave us points as well. I was pleased to see the opportunities we created." Visser put Scotland ahead 10-3 in the 14th minute, breaking free and scoring a try before Laidlaws conversion. After Visser dropped the ball twice close to the try-zone, Scotland was finally able to get in, scoring on a penalty try in the 32nd minute, and Laidlaw added the conversion to up Scotlands advantage to 17-3. After Laidlaw missed a penalty kick off the upright in the fourth minute, he connected on a penalty kick from inside the 22 metre line to give Scotland a 3-0 lead in the sixth minute. Wyles tied it at 3 with a penalty kick in the 11th minute, and he cut Scotlands lead to 17-6 with a penalty kick from outside the 22-meter line in the 51st minute, but that would be as close as the Eagles would get. "It was tough," U.S. captain Todd Clever said. "When we tried to put some things together in their territory, it just wasnt there." Scotland upped the lead to 24-6 in the 66th minute with Hogg breaking free along the left sideline and scoring a try and Laidlaw added the conversion. Clever had the Eagles best chance at scoring a try in the 34th minute, touching the line, but after being reviewed, Clever was ruled to have done a double move, and the try was negated. ' ' '