Ousmane Dembele's goal early in the second half helped Barcelona defeat 10-man Real Sociedad 1-0 on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.
The result ended a nine-game winning streak for Sociedad, who played a man down from the 40th minute after Brais Mendez was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets.
Sociedad arrived as one of the hottest teams in Spain with 21 wins in 28 matches in all competitions this season, with 13 of those wins coming in away games. They had lost only four times overall and are third in La Liga, six points behind leader Barca.
But the Camp Npou side were in control for most of the match, and opened the scoring in the 52nd minute through Dembele's angled shot from inside the area after a pass into space by defender Jules Kounde.
Sociedad, who were missing veteran playmaker David Silva because of a muscle injury, had a couple of good chances near the end but could not capitalise, although Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen needed to make some big saves.
