Dembele strike sends Barcelona into cup semi-finals

2023-01-26 10:10

Dembele strike sends Barcelona into cup semi-finals

Ousmane Dembele's second - half goal helped Barcelona beat 10 -man Real Sociedad 1-0 in Wednesday's Copa del Rey quarter-final , extending their unbeaten streak to 12 games.


Real Sociedad entered the game with nine consecutive victories in all competitions. In the 29th minute, Japanese teenager Takeshi Kubo almost broke the goal with a shot that hit the crossbar.

But their hopes of beating Barca at the Nou Camp were dashed when striker Bres Mendes was shown a direct red card for a wild challenge on Sergio Busquets in the 40th minute.

Barcelona were the better side for most of the game after that but only scored one goal thanks to a brilliant counter-attack from man of the match Dembele in the 52nd minute.

The winger ran across the right after receiving a perfect long pass from his France team-mate Jules Conde and fired an unstoppable right-footed effort into the top corner.

Real Sociedad should have leveled seven minutes later, but Aleksandar Solov missed a chance with a shot from just inside the six -yard box from Kubo Hiroshi 's cross.

Dembele strike sends Barcelona into cup semi-finals

Barça goalkeeper saves to secure victory

In the 68th minute, Garvey volleyed and hit the crossbar from Dembele's brilliant cross, Real Madrid's last-minute push had at least three goals , and a series of saves by Barcelona goalkeeper Marc - Andre ter Stegen Victory secured.

Barca defender Ronald Araujo told Movistar Plus : " It was a struggle for us after they were singled out because they defended well and defended relentlessly .

" I'm sure coach Xavi is going to give us a slap in the face and we probably should have finished the game earlier. Now we need to correct our mistakes and move on. I'm happy because we won at home and we continue to run well. "

In the other quarter-final, Sevilla face Osasuna later on Wednesday, while Real Madrid face Atletico Madrid and Valencia face Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.