Ousmane Dembélé’s objective early within the second half helped Barcelona defeat 10-man Real Sociedad 1-0 at residence on Wednesday to succeed in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey.
The consequence ended a nine-game profitable streak for Sociedad, which performed a person down from the fortieth minute after Brais Méndez was despatched off for a harmful deal with on Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets.
It was Sociedad’s twenty seventh straight loss to Barcelona as a customer. It hasn’t gained on the Catalan membership in 31 matches, courting again to 1991.
The Basque Country facet arrived as one of many hottest groups in Spain with 21 wins in 28 matches in all competitions this season, with 13 of these wins coming in away video games. It had misplaced solely 4 instances general and is third within the Spanish league, six factors behind chief Barcelona.
Barcelona was in management for a lot of the match, although, and opened the scoring within the 52nd via Dembélé’s angled shot from inside the world after a cross into house by defender Jules Koundé.
Sociedad had a few good possibilities close to the top however couldn’t capitalize on them, with Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen arising with huge saves.
Barcelona was eradicated within the spherical of 16 final season and gained the Copa in 2021 for its final title earlier than the departure of Lionel Messi. The Catalan membership has gained 4 matches in a row, together with the Spanish Super Cup last towards Real Madrid in Saudi Arabia.
Barcelona coach Xavi had Robert Lewandowski again after the Poland striker couldn’t play towards Getafe within the Spanish league due to a suspension.
Sociedad was with out veteran playmaker David Silva due to a muscle harm.
Barcelona eradicated third-division membership Ceuta within the spherical of 16, whereas Sociedad obtained previous Mallorca.
Struggling Sevilla visits Osasuna within the different quarterfinal on Wednesday. Real Madrid hosts metropolis rival Atletico Madrid on Thursday, and Athletic Bilbao visits Valencia.
The draw for the semifinals will likely be on Monday.