Barcelona have earned their first win at Estadio Anoeta in nearly a decade by seeing off Real Sociedad 1-0 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final tie.
A Neymar penalty 21 minutes in proved the difference on the night in the Basque Country, settling what was a scrappy affair that contained just two shots on goal - one of them that decisive spot kick.
Barca will now be considered strong favourites to get the job done on home soil in next week's return leg, having ended a run of eight games without a win at San Sebastian stretching back to May 2007.
Less than a minute of the match had elapsed before Willian Jose went down in the box calling for a penalty, which the referee correctly waved away following appeals from some home players.
Neymar was brought back into Barca's starting ranks this evening as part of seven changes, as Luis Enrique reverted to a stronger XI to the side that saw off Las Palmas, but the Catalans' forward trio were struggling to truly click into gear up top.
La Real were looking to utilise a high press when their opponents were on the ball in their own final third, and that worked to perfection when the shaky Samuel Umtiti was put under a little pressure.
The Frenchman succeeded only in passing the ball straight to Mikel Oyarzabal, who could only send his subsequent shot high over Jasper Cillessen's crossbar.
The complexion of the match changed 19 minutes in, however, as young full-back Aritz Elustondo clipped Neymar following some trickery from the Brazilian to concede a penalty.
Neymar scored his second goal in the competition this season from the spot, sending Geronimo Rulli the wrong way after being handed penalty duties by a selfless Lionel Messi for the game's decisive moment.
It would prove to be a stop-start affair for the remainder of the contest, but the Royals - whose last success in this competition came exactly 30 years ago - ended the half the better and created an opening for Asier Illarramendi to send the ball over the target from range.
Sociedad have turned Estadio Anoeta into something of a fortress this term, with only Real Madrid and Sevilla leaving here unscathed, though they were struggling to reach their recent levels and were unable to test Cillessen all night.
Neymar had a good opening to put Barcelona another step closer to the final four when getting on the end of a free kick, only for a bad touch to cost him the chance of shooting in a one-on-one position.
A first away win of the year for Barca, coming after defeat at Athletic Bilbao in this competition and a stalemate with Villarreal last time out, would have been sealed had Neymar not curled the ball wide of the far post when picked out by Messi's backheel.
Sociedad did step things up a little but still chances were proving to be a rare commodity, while Neymar was on a one-man mission to score the killer second, and he was unfortunate not to win another penalty when this time wiped out by Rulli - a yellow for simulation instead his reward.
Messi then sent a free kick on to the roof of the net as the final quarter of the match approached, that proving to be the closest either side would come to finding a second on a night lacking any real entertainment in the Basque Country.
Daniel Lewis
