Athletic Bilbao avoided the perils of upset specialist Alcorcon with a 1-0 victory Thursday in the first leg of their Copa del Rey matchup.
Carlos Gurpegui sent Markel Susaeta's 55th-minute pass past goalkeeper Raul Moreno from long-range for a valuable away goal in the fourth-round tie.
Athletic had better chances early on as striker Fernando Llorente headed wide in the 18th before Ruben Anuarbe cleared Gurpegui's header off the goal line in the 27th.
But Alcorcon, which ousted Spanish giant Real Madrid last year mostly due to a 4-0 first leg win at the same Santo Domingo stadium, only tested Bilbao 'keeper Gorka Iraizoz once late as it pressured heavily at the close.
Deportivo La Coruna equalized quickly to secure a 1-1 draw at Osasuna, while Jose Ulloa's second-half brace helped Almeria rally from a two-goal deficit to beat Real Sociedad 3-2.
Jeffrey Sarpong picked up a loose ball in the area to fire a shot past goalkeeper Esteban Andres Suarez inside the near post for Sociedad's seventh-minute opener.
Sociedad was in control at the Anoeta stadium after Gorko Elostundo headed Imanol Agirretxe's cross home in the 32nd.
But Sociedad sat back and allowed Almeria space to attack and Swedish striker Henrik Goitom's shot deflected off of Ion Ansotegi past 'keeper Enaut Zubikarai in the 67th to start the comeback. Three minutes later, Ulloa curled a shot around Zubikarai with the inside of his right foot.
Elostundo was unlucky to hit the post in the 88th as Sociedad pressed for an equalizer just before Ulloa netted the winner on the counter.
At Reyna de Navarra stadium, Juanfran Torres capped a great individual effort with his 67th-minute goal for Osasuna.
But Saul Fernandez answered only three minutes later after taking advantage of miscommunication between Osasuna players to give Deportivo a valuable edge in the series.
In the rest of the first leg matches this week that saw topflight clubs enter the competition, it was: Ceuta 0, Barcelona 2; Murcia 0, Real Madrid 0; Real Union 0, Sevilla 4; Logrones 0, Valencia 3; Hercules 0, Malaga 0; Mallorca 3, Sporting Gijon 1; Poli Ejido 1, Villarreal 1; Portugalete 1, Getafe 1; Xerez 2, Levante 3; Cordoba 2, Racing Santander 0; Valladolid 0, Espanyol 2; Real Betis 0, Zaragoza 1; and Universidad de Las Palmas 0, Atletico Madrid 5.
