Sheffield Wednesday caretaker manager Neil Thompson admitted the quality might not have been there but could not fault his struggling side for their commitment in the goalless draw at home to Huddersfield.
It was a Yorkshire derby of few chances at Hillsborough where the two men on the respective benches provided an interesting subplot to on-field events.
Thompson was taking charge of his first game as temporary Owls boss following the sacking of Xisco Munoz, while Huddersfield counterpart Darren Moore was making his first return to Wednesday since leaving in the summer.
With rock-bottom Wednesday having not won in the Championship this season and 19th-placed Huddersfield coming into the match on the back of 4-1 mauling at Birmingham, Thompson admitted the clash was always likely to be “a bit cagey”.
Summing up the game, Thompson said: “Scrappy, a bit frantic. We are on the back of a bad run and they’ve come off the back of a bad result in midweek. It was always going to be tight, a bit cagey. Not a lot of quality possession but a lot of endeavour.
“I thought we had a little spell just before half-time where we got a bit of controlled possession in their half. Maybe we could have done a little bit more with it.
“In the second 45, I thought that we were the team probably that was going to score. It was a game of few chances, but if you’re not going to win it, you’re not going to lose it and we didn’t lose it.
“It’s a pre-requisite that you compete and we did that. That’s what I got from the boys today. They put a lot into the game.
“I think the players have had a right go today. Quality? Yes, that can be better, of course it can, but in terms of them committing themselves to the task in hand, I think they did it.
“You just step into the breach and do the best you can. I’ve been asked to do this game and I’ve done it.”
Huddersfield manager Darren Moore, who guided Wednesday to promotion via the play-offs last season before leaving the club, also admitted the game lacked any real quality.
He said: “I would imagine from a neutral watching the game, it wasn’t a great game to watch. I thought the game would settle down after about 20/25 minutes but it kind of kept up all the way through the game.
“What you got from the game was two teams committed to not giving anyone any space on the pitch to manoeuvre.
“I just thought on the balance of it we shaded it. A couple of chances better than they had. I thought the ‘goal’ in the 90th minute came and then I looked to see the referee signal and he said it was a foul on the keeper. It looked soft at the time.
“I thought we shaded the chances better and certainly off the back of the performance in the week, a clean sheet was really important for us.”
Looking ahead, Moore, who was named Terriers boss last month, said: “I’m looking at the next two weeks as an opportunity to work with the team. The players have been absolutely diamonds – every single one of them – because everything we’ve asked them to do in small pockets, they’ve been doing.
“We have a chance to get some work done on the training ground. When we do get into these threatening areas, where we can be more of a threat and more punishing to the opposition.”
Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens was delighted to secure a 2-1 win against Reading after a difficult week for the club.
The O’s match with Lincoln on Tuesday was abandoned when lifelong supporter Derek Reynolds was taken ill and died later that evening.
Wellens had seen his team dominate the early exchanges against Reading to deservedly take a first-half lead through a Jordan Brown piledriver before Tyler Bindon equalised ahead of the interval.
But the points were secured in the 90th minute by George Moncur, who stepped off the bench to apply the final touch after a goalmouth scramble following a corner.
“It was a really emotional afternoon and I thought the club as a whole today made it a brilliant day to remember a lifelong supporter and someone who worked for the football club,” Wellens said.
“It’s been a very tough 72 hours. Finding that motivation to get going has been difficult
“We had to work hard in the end. We were totally dominant in the opening 20 minutes. We created loads of chances, we hit the crossbar and we found it easy to play round them but then they changed it when we scored and they blocked us up a bit.
“We’re still an emerging side, naive at times and tactically we have to get better while the game is happening but I can’t be prouder of the players as our points return has been really good.
“Jordan Brown epitomised what we’re all about. He was excellent today; picked pockets, kept possession and technically he’s a very good footballer which was demonstrated from the goal he scored.”
Reading remain in the relegation zone and manager Ruben Selles acknowledged that his side need to address their shortcomings.
“We competed well but it’s another moment late like the Exeter game where we lose the game in a situation we could have easily solved,” he said.
“We came here to compete and we were in the game. We came back after the first goal but we need to improve.
“Our pressure was not quick enough at the start of the game so I made a couple of modifications and we started to defend better. We went back to our system we know to get more pressure on the ball and it stopped the crosses coming in from the opposition.
“We lost Sam Hutchinson before the match as he was feeling his hip. He could run but not kick the ball so we had to made a change and brought in Charlie Savage.
“There is always pressure in football but there has been a lot of things out of our modifications of building the team but I will not make excuses. We came here to compete.”
Mark Robins admitted his disappointment as Coventry salvaged a point against Norwich with a 1-1 draw at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Ben Gibson’s 88th-minute own goal handed the Sky Blues a point and maintained their unbeaten home start to the season after Jonathan Rowe poked in his sixth of the season before half time.
The Sky Blues had chances to take all three points after Milan van Ewijk and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto had chances to steal all three points in added time.
Robins explained: “We deserved a point very much so, but I think we can be a little bit disappointed that we didn’t go on and win it.
“During the game that’s the first time we feel that we’ve been able to have any sort of meaningful possession, and even though we went behind we knew we were in the game.
“We got in at half-time at 1-0 and we knew we were in the game, well in it. The fact that we were shows that there’s been a significant step forward been taken.
“The fact that we ended up pinning them in for large parts of the second half and especially at the end, when I made the changes, I think that had a benefit because it re-energised us, which was really important.
“The ball into the penalty area for the own goal, the quality on the ball meant that Gibson had to head it and thankfully it hit the back of the net.
“It keeps our unbeaten record at home intact and that’s huge. This point is a big point on the back of the two previous wins, so seven points from three games is really good and we can look forward to building, and hopefully we can start to get a few players back now and hopefully things will start to look a little bit better after the international break.”
Norwich manager David Wagner rued the missed chances that could have seen his side double their lead in the second half as he reflected on a hard-fought point on the road following three consecutive away defeats.
“The result is because we conceded so late, even if I can say I think it was a fair result.” said the former Huddersfield boss. “I was very pleased with how the players execute our idea, to give Coventry a little bit possession, make sure we defend from a low block and be a threat on the transition.
“I think it worked, they put in a real shift. Obviously, you have to defend your crosses and you have to have some blocks but there were no real big chances which I’ve seen over a long period.
“We scored a great counter press goal and had two further golden opportunities from Adam Idah and Liam Gibbs where we have to kill the game, especially in the second half where we had this period of 25-30 minutes where we were very comfortable on the ball, there we have to kill the game and this is unfortunately what we haven’t done.
“If you defend crosses then always a mistake can happen what happened and then you concede a goal and obviously the feeling is totally different even if you have done exactly the same game, exactly the same performance because the outcome is different, but I was pleased with the effort, with the togetherness, with the commitment, it was a hard fought point which they deserved.”
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna was delighted to see individual players step up in their 4-2 victory over Preston.
The promoted hosts kept pace with Sky Bet Championship leaders Leicester and extended their lead over third-placed Preston to eight points after making it six games unbeaten.
A clever set-piece routine for Conor Chaplin’s opener and a superb solo goal from Brandon Williams ignited the Tractor Boys’ display.
McKenna said: “Our substitutes bought fresh energy and helped us kill the game off as well.
“We had a threat right throughout the game with some great goals and we have to take a lot of positives and the players deserve a lot of credit not just today but certainly across this block of games.”
McKenna was delighted with the “well-executed” set-piece which produced the first goal for Chaplin, as well as Manchester United loanee Williams’ goal.
“Credit to the staff as well, it didn’t look as good as that in training but sometimes things are better in the arena. Really well executed and a great way to get us started,” McKenna said.
“Brandon showed that drive and that determination all game up and down the pitch and the goal typified that today – and we needed it.
“We weren’t at our very best as a team and we’re not always going to be… individually we need people to step up and Brandon did that especially with his goal.”
Chaplin fired Ipswich ahead before the visitors levelled through Mads Frokjaer-Jensen. Williams’ effort restored Town’s advantage, which was added to by Nathan Broadhead.
Ben Whiteman got Preston back in it but Kayden Jackson’s late fourth ensured promoted Ipswich’s extraordinary start to the season continued as they inflicted a third successive defeat on the visitors.
Preston manager Ryan Lowe said it was a “tough afternoon” for his team and urged them to learn from their mistakes.
Lowe said: “Obviously (I’m) disappointed with the first half and I think the first three goals, you can’t give a good team like Ipswich three goals and we have done.
“It was good goals from them, especially the first one, but we knew what was coming and we worked on it yesterday.
“We give ourselves a lifeline at half-time and make a few changes and came out a lot better and when we were really pushing, second half they do us on the counter and come out with the ball when we should win those duels. So overall (it’s) a tough afternoon.
“They all admit it’s not good enough. It’s probably been one of the toughest weeks since I’ve been here in terms of the goals we have conceded.
“If you want to do anything in the division you have to be better all round.”
Charlton head coach Michael Appleton praised the character of his side as they came back to draw 2-2 against Blackpool.
The south London outfit looked out of the game with 10 minutes to go, but two goals in as many minutes earned a point.
Although Charlton were unable to make it four wins in a row at the Valley, Appleton was pleased with the comeback.
He said: “I’m really happy with the response the players showed, they created lots of chances in the game.
“We don’t want to get used to coming from behind, but the one thing I did say when I came here was to hopefully improve the mentality – the never-say-die spirit.
“The fans have seen enough in the team at the minute that they’re giving everything. We’ll make mistakes and concede goals at times, but you’ve seen today they’re willing to have a right go.
“I think we could have won it if it went another five minutes, even before we scored we created a lot of chances in that second half.
“We had two sides, one side really wanted to win and the other had moments in the game, and I knew that would be the case.”
It looked to be a fine away performance from Blackpool, who took the lead after 34 minutes. James Husband crossed into the middle of the area for Jordan Rhodes to connect first time past keeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer.
The spoils looked to be heading back to Lancashire when substitute Karamoko Dembele stole the ball from defender Michael Hector to rifle home on 70 minutes.
However, Charlton stunned them with two goals in under 120 seconds. Firstly, Chuks Aneke found space to square for Alfie May to divert home on 82 minutes.
Then Corey Blackett-Taylor sent the Valley into raptures with a superb curled effort.
Visiting head coach Neil Critchley was left to bemoan the lack of discipline from his side.
He said: “We should have won that, without a doubt. At 2-0 you could say it was a perfect away performance. We’d restricted them to very little in the game.
“When you score the second goal you should see the game out. It was a couple of moments of madness that have cost us.
“There is a frustrated group of players in the dressing room, and a frustrated group of staff.
“The first Charlton goal is the one for me. We shouldn’t get counter-attacked when we’re 2-0 up. We lost the ball in a stupid position on the pitch.”
Hibernian head coach Nick Montgomery hailed Elie Youan for his reaction to a half-time warning after the winger netted two goals in 83 seconds to earn his side an Edinburgh derby point against Hearts at Tynecastle.
Montgomery was unhappy with his side’s first-half efforts as they trailed to Alan Forrest’s spectacular strike before Christian Doidge’s 58th-minute own goal put Hearts two ahead.
But Youan struck twice in quick succession midway through the second half after combining with Dylan Vente and both teams collected a cinch Premiership point after a thrilling finale.
Montgomery said: “Elie’s a fantastic player, he could play at the highest level no doubt, but he needs to be more consistent and he knows that.
“I told him at half-time we needed more from him because he’s a player that can win you a game of football.
“There were too many who weren’t good enough in the first half and Elie was definitely one of them but when I asked him to step up he certainly did.
“He gets two goals and we need that from him for 90 minutes, not for 45. If only the game was 45 minutes he would probably be playing in the Champions League.
“But that’s something Elie has to fix, he’s a young player with bags of ability. That’s normal, sometimes it takes young players a couple of years to get that consistency but there’s no doubting his ability. He is a fantastic player and a good lad and second half he reacted really well.”
Montgomery labelled the 2-2 draw “definitely a good outcome in the end”.
“They were a lot better than us in the first half and I thought second half we were the better team,” he said.
“I’m very disappointed in the first half and the way we played and I told the boys at half-time it wasn’t good enough.
“We talked about the emotion of the game during the week and a few too many got caught up with the emotion and they dealt with it better.
“I told them second half they had to go out there and fix it and they did.”
Hearts head coach Steven Naismith bemoaned the 90-second spell which cost his team what he felt would have been a deserved win.
“We put so much into the game and for large parts it was a really good performance,” he said.
“We carried a threat, the chances we had were really good, scored two good goals, and the biggest disappointment is we have given up two goals in the space of a minute-and-a-half that has ultimately cost us three points in what would have been a very good performance.
“I think over time we will look at the performance and be positive but decision-making when it goes 2-1, you can question, and ultimately our defending has cost us.”
Naismith felt the impressive Alex Lowry was tiring as he explained his decision to take the midfielder off in the 62nd minute and replace him with the more defensive-minded Beni Baningime.
Naismith added: “The game was getting a bit more stretched, we weren’t keeping the ball when we should be, because they were committing more bodies forward and it started getting end to end. We didn’t want to lose control of it.
“But ultimately it’s a minute-and-a-half of poor decision-making and defending that has cost us.”
Barcelona boss Xavi insists his squad can cope with their growing injury list.
The Catalans visit Granada in LaLiga on Sunday boosted by back-to-back 1-0 wins over Sevilla and Porto.
Ferran Torres scored Barcelona’s Champions League winner in Portugal after replacing the injured Robert Lewandowski.
The Poland striker has joined Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Raphinha on the casualty list.
“We do have a rather small squad, but I would hardly say that we are plagued by injuries,” Xavi said at his pre-match press conference.
“We have players to compete. We hope to recover players in the upcoming games.
“Lewandowski is a big loss, he is our most differential player and a leader.
“But luckily the team has plenty of alternatives like Joao (Felix), Ferran and Fermin (Lopez) who knows what it is to play as a false nine.
“We already have plenty of cover in midfield and there is also new additions from the reserve team.”
Pau Victor and Marc Guiu have been called up for senior duty for the first time as Barcelona trail leaders Real Madrid by four points with a game in hand.
The international break also appears to have come at a good time to allow injured players the opportunity to get fit again.
Barcelona return to LaLiga action after the international break against Athletic Bilbao on October 22.
They then have a Champions League tie with Shakhtar Donetsk before playing Real Madrid at home in El Clasico.
Xavi said: “Pedri is almost ready, and so are Robert and Frenkie. The team is playing well and our confidence has been boosted by two hard-fought wins.”
Barcelona struggled to control possession against Porto, and Xavi added: “I always want 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the ball.
“We need to dominate the control both in attack and defence.
“We face a difficult opponent, the most physical in La Liga, an opponent that will play a direct game with great offensive potential.
“We have to control their direct football. It’ll be hard to beat Paco Lopez’s team.
“There are games in which we have been good and others, not so much.
“We have to take better care of the ball, but the attitude and effort are spectacular.
“In Porto, we ran the most this season, in kilometres. That says it all about attitude.
“But our formula is to stick to the Barca philosophy. We always play attacking football, whether we have three forwards or not. We never change our philosophy.”
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers praised his players’ resolve in their 3-1 win over Kilmarnock.
Goals from Reo Hatate, Luis Palma and Greg Taylor sent the champions seven points clear at the top of the cinch Premiership and made David Watson’s strike – that made it 2-1 – no more than a consolation.
Rodgers admitted there had been a period of “grieving” following the midweek Champions League defeat to Lazio but credited the squad for not letting it affect them upon their return to league duty.
He said: “I’m really pleased with the performance today off the back of the game during the week.
“We could all touch the pain of that result because our display didn’t merit it.
“But it’s about how you respond. You grieve for 24 hours, I sensed it from everyone, the players and the supporters. But you need to show strength of mentality to get back to winning again.
“We showed that today because we switched back to perform well today. The players deserve credit for that.”
Hatate’s goal crowned an excellent individual performance and Rodgers revealed he had sat down with the Japan international earlier in the week to speak about his intensity levels.
He added: “This was the first game that Reo has come alive for me. He has to press the game and when he is at that level, then he is intense with the ball. He scored a brilliant goal and he was superb.
“I went through things with him the other day. If he wants to get to the highest level, there needs to be more intensity in his game. I took him through clips of his game, all without the ball.
“If you press the game well you will pass it well. But he took it on board, was very open and produced a fantastic performance today. That’s the level, you can’t switch the engine on and off.”
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes felt that Celtic’s second goal, scored by Palma via a ricochet off Hatate, should have been ruled out.
He said: “Having seen the pictures for me it looks offside in the build-up when it bounces back off the Celtic player. So I’m disappointed with that as offside should be clear.
“When I saw it on the big screen I thought he was offside and when VAR were checking it I was expecting it to be chopped off.
“There might be better pictures in the VAR hub so any criticism of that at the minute is a wee bit contained as I’m just viewing it on the pictures that I’ve seen.
“I showed the referee the pictures that I’d seen. But they’re obviously dependent on the people in VAR looking at different angles.
“I saw an angle on my analyst’s laptop. Whether he’s a computer genius and has played around with the lines I don’t know. But it looked offside.”
Cardiff boss Erol Bulut accused his players of not working hard enough in their 1-1 draw with Watford.
The Bluebirds manager watched his side fade markedly after taking the lead in the 26th minute through Mark McGuinness.
The centre-half’s far-post volley from a Joe Ralls corner suggested a comfortable afternoon might be in store for the hosts against a Hornets outfit that had lost their three previous Sky Bet Championship outings.
But while the equaliser from Watford striker Vakoun Bayo arrived after a howler by Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, the hosts never did enough to win.
Bulut said: “The first 35 minutes was good, but I don’t know what happened afterwards. We totally changed.
“I don’t know why, whether it was pressure or they were stressed. In the end we have to be happy with one point.
“Perhaps after four wins in a row we thought we were great, but we have to work, and today we didn’t work as a group.
“I am satisfied with the start of the season, but not with today.”
It was a shocking mistake by Alnwick, which left the Cardiff City Stadium stunned.
There appeared no danger when McGuinness played a square pass with his team set to clear their defensive lines.
But Alnwick’s first touch was horrid, the ball bouncing off his boot into the path of Bayo who side-footed into an empty net.
Asked about Alnwick’s howler, Bulut said: “We played too many balls back to the goalkeeper which was not necessary.
“We created the chances for them. When we have the chance to play forward, we must do it. You can use the goalkeeper, but not too much.”
It was no more than Watford deserved, with boss Valerien Ismael insisting his side should have taken all three points.
They improved a lot in the second half, enjoying more possession and creating the better opportunities.
Ismael said: “We should have won, no doubt about that. When a team has lost three games and is low on confidence it is difficult.
“We didn’t trust our own quality. The mentality in the second half was very good and we did not concede any chances.
“We expected more points than we have but we will take it step by step. The goal we conceded was incredible, just too easy. But we kept fighting.”
Liam Livingstone unleashed a six-hitting spree the last time he visited the Himalayan city of Dharamshala and believes it could be the perfect place for England to put their World Cup campaign back on track.
The reigning champions had a stuttering start to their title defence, thrashed by nine wickets after a timid performance in the curtain-raiser against New Zealand, and will be eyeing a much-improved performance against Bangladesh on Tuesday.
The game takes place at the picturesque HPCA Stadium, framed against the backdrop of the Dhauladhar mountain range and sitting 1,500 metres above sea level.
The altitude provides a boost for big-hitting batters, with the ball travelling further in the thinner air, and Livingstone had a chance to test the theory in the IPL earlier this year. He smashed 94 in just 48 balls for Punjab Kings, launching nine sixes along the way.
And, after labouring to an under-par 282 against the Black Caps in their opener, there could not be a better venue for England to rediscover their power-hitting mojo.
“It’s an incredible ground and an incredible place to bat if it’s anything like it was that day,” said Livingstone.
“Conditions here should suit us and the boys are really excited. We want to get over what happened the other day and almost go twice as hard. We want to put on a really good show and get things kickstarted in this tournament.
“Because of the altitude the ball just flies really well here. You can feel it, it makes you more confident to take on the boundaries.
“They aren’t that big anyway and the altitude just makes it better with the power we’ve got in our line-up. It certainly helps as a batter, standing there knowing you can take the fielders on.
“It’s the kind of place you can really set up the back end of the innings and score highly. Personally, I’ve got good memories here and hopefully I can repeat it.”
Despite the remote nature of Dharamshala, an area better known for its proximity to the Dalai Lama’s residence just 10km away in McLeod Ganj, Livingstone is not the only squad member to have played here.
Sam Curran and Jos Buttler have also passed through on IPL duty, while Buttler, Joe Root and Chris Woakes all played in England’s first ever international at the venue in 2013.
England beat India on that occasion, taking seven wickets with fast bowlers, and they are likely to be tempted by an extra seamer this time.
Left-armer Reece Topley was unlucky to miss out against New Zealand and heads the queue to come in, while Gus Atkinson and David Willey also stand by with Moeen Ali’s spot vulnerable.
“It’s a good pitch, with good pace and carry and it can nip around,” Livingstone said.
“It’s probably as English a pitch as there is out here and will probably suit us more than many grounds around the country. Hopefully that can play in our favour.”
The one change England would most like to make, bringing Ben Stokes back in to bolster their middle order, is unlikely to happen as he continues to struggle with a hip problem.
Without him the onus will fall on others to fashion a fitting response to their loss in Ahmedabad and Livingstone insists they are ready to oblige.
He was part of the team that lost to Ireland in the group stages of last year’s T20 World Cup and went on to lift the trophy and is unfazed a single setback.
“There’s no point looking back and regretting. We could have lost by one run or the way we did, either way, we move on,” he said.
“One game doesn’t define a tournament and if you’re going to lose a game like that you’d probably rather it was the first one.
“You can lose games and win a World Cup, we’ve shown that before. The one thing this group does well when we’ve lost a game of cricket is double down on our aggressive approach and we’ve got a chance to do that on Tuesday.”
Wales were left to count the cost of their Rugby World Cup victory over Georgia after number eight Taulupe Faletau suffered a broken arm and two other players were also injured.
Faletau, who has won more than 100 caps, will take no further part in the tournament as Wales build towards a quarter-final against probably Argentina or Japan in Marseille next weekend.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland said no decision had yet been made on a replacement for Faletau, although flanker Aaron Wainwright is an option to move across the back-row.
Fly-half Gareth Anscombe, meanwhile, withdrew 45 minutes before kick-off in Nantes following a groin problem suffered during the warm-up.
And full-back Liam Williams was on crutches after Gatland said he took a blow to his knee, but Wales are hopeful he will be fit for the quarter-final, with Wales ending their Pool C campaign as group winners with four successive victories following a 43-19 triumph.
“Toby (Faletau) has broken his arm so he will be out,” Gatland said.
“We are just going to assess Gareth over the next 72 hours. He has pulled his groin very high up.
“Talking to the medics, he has got a bit of power still in his leg which is a positive. It means he has not pulled it off the bone.
“We will probably know in the next 48-72 hours what we need to do with him. Whether we’ve got (time) for him to recover or replace him directly.
“We have got to look at a replacement for Faletau, whether that is directly as a loose-forward replacement or whether we look at another position.
“We’ve got a few sore players, particularly in the backs, after today’s game.
“If you do see Liam Williams on crutches, it is not that he has done anything significantly bad.
“He got a whack on the knee, and the medics, from a comfort perspective, have put him on crutches to save him walking around a bit.
“He has got a knock and probably won’t take a huge part in training in the early part of next week, but hopefully he will be fit for the quarter-final.”
Jude Bellingham made it 10 goals in 10 games for Real Madrid with a clinical brace in a 4-0 victory over Osasuna that saw Carlo Ancelotti’s men return to the top of LaLiga.
The England midfielder struck in either half before Vinicius Junior and Joselu wrapped up the points as Madrid reclaimed top spot from Girona, who had won earlier in the day.
Madrid needed just nine minutes to get their noses in front at the Bernabeu and, almost inevitably, it was Bellingham who did the damage.
Luka Modric picked out Dani Carvajal’s run into the area and the full-back cleverly laid the ball back to Bellingham, who took a couple of touches before drilling a left-footed shot into the roof of the net.
That was a third goal in eight days for Bellingham as he continued his phenomenal start to life in Spain since his £88.5million summer move from Borussia Dortmund.
It was also all that separated the sides in the first half, with Madrid unable to break through again despite trying their luck through a Vinicius shot that went over and an attempted Carvajal chip that Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera was equal to.
Osasuna, meanwhile, had threatened little in the opening 45 minutes but gave their hosts a double scare just before half-time when Jon Moncayola’s strike from distance went inches wide before Ante Budimir spurned a great chance to level in stoppage time.
Ruben Pena’s cross was left by Lucas Torro for team-mate Budimir, who was unmarked near the penalty spot, but the Croatia international fired over.
Perhaps spooked by those let-offs, or inspired by Ancelotti’s half-time input, Madrid came out firing in the second half and Joselu looked to have made it 2-0 only to see his shot skim the far post.
Madrid continued to push though and, after Eduardo Camavinga tried his luck from range, Bellingham doubled their lead in the 54th minute.
The 20-year-old drove at the Osasuna defence on the edge of the area, played a one-two with Federico Valverde and then coolly finished between Herrera’s legs.
If that did not end Osasuna’s challenge, then Joselu’s goal to make it 3-0 in the 65th minute most definitely did.
Madrid broke quickly after winning possession, with Valverde threading Vinicius through from the halfway line and the winger sprinted clear before rounding Herrera and slotting home.
Vinicius then turned provider as rampant Madrid added a fourth goal in the 69th minute.
The Brazil international superbly brought down a long ball forward from Aurelien Tchouameni, then showed good strength to hold off his marker before slipping in Joselu to fire into the corner of the net.
Madrid had chances to add to their tally after that, the best of which saw Joselu denied from the penalty spot by Herrera following a handball in the area, but the result was long settled by then.
Willian rolled back the years as Fulham cruised to a 3-1 victory over Sheffield United.
The 35-year-old Brazilian produced a stunning display, cementing his side’s win with a third goal following Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s strike and an unfortunate Wes Foderingham own goal.
United’s only goal also came when Antonee Robinson put into his own net.
Fulham – looking to bounce back from their 2-0 defeat to west London rivals Chelsea on Monday – started strongly and in the sixth minute Willian picked the ball up on the left and beat his man on the outside before De Cordova-Reid failed to convert his inch-perfect delivery.
Willian was off the pace on Monday but he looked to make up for it with surging runs forward, one which nearly set up Vinicius before his own shot inside the box was saved by Foderingham after 19 minutes.
Play halted for an extended period after Blades skipper Chris Basham suffered a serious ankle injury which saw him carried off on a stretcher with the score at 0-0.
But the Willian show resumed immediately and Fulham went close when the former Chelsea winger combined with Vinicius on the break before a quality defensive tackle denied the hosts taking the lead after 40 minutes.
Sheffield United were being outfought, they rarely had meaningful touches in Fulham’s territory and their first-half performance begged the question as to where their chances would come from. Their hosts always looked the favourite to get the first goal.
And Fulham should have done just that but they squandered the best chance of the match so far during 14 minutes added-time.
Willian ghosted his marker with his explosive acceleration before he produced another exceptional cross to the feet of countryman Andreas Pereira who somehow found a way to sky his chance from six yards out.
Fulham’s wasted chances were a reminder as to why their five league goals are the joint-lowest in the Premier League this season.
But in the 53rd minute the Cottagers took a deserved lead through De Cordova-Reid.
Fulham transitioned quickly and a splitting pass from Pereira set the Jamaica international through before he held his nerve to convert past Foderingham and give the hosts a 1-0 advantage.
But in the 67th minute Sheffield United forced an own goal to level the score at 1-1.
Fulham’s Issa Diop went down injured but the Blades refused to kick the ball out and Yasser Larouci’s dangerous cross cannoned off Antonee Robinson into his own net.
The goal was far from deserved but the Cottagers paid the price for their earlier missed chances which opened the door for the opportunistic visitors to strike.
However substitute Tom Cairney bailed his side out when his long shot forced an own goal and gave Fulham the lead.
The Scot let fly, hitting the crossbar and the ball bounced on to the back of the well-beaten Foderingham and into the net as Fulham took a 2-1 lead in bizarre circumstances.
Willian got the goal he deserved in the eighth minute of stoppage time with a powerful shot that beat Foderingham and settled the game.
Atrium registered the biggest success of his career as he prevailed in a thrilling finish to the Howden Challenge Cup at Ascot.
The stands side was the place to be in the ultra-competitive handicap – the most valuable race on the card – and both Charlie Fellowes’ winner and the in-form Popmaster emerged from the shadows of pacemakers Lethal Levi and Ancestral Land to engage in a titanic tussle in the closing stages.
Ed Walker’s Popmaster was attempting to add to a Listed win he notched up at Newbury last time, but he could not shrug off the Harry Davies-ridden, Highclere-owned Atrium, who got the nod in a photo finish after the two protagonists passed the winning post in unison.
The winner returned an official winning verdict of a nose as he landed an upset at 25-1 and Fellowes was thrilled to see the four-year-old back to his best.
He said: “He’s been a star of a horse and he’s won five or six times over the last couple of years, but has never really won a big one. He’s always won nice handicaps but never one of the big ones.
“He deserved to win a big one and I’m over the moon for the horse and I’m over the moon for the owners because there is no better place to win a big handicap than Ascot and he did it really well.
“He had a really, really hard race at Doncaster when he won about three starts ago. It was on really soft ground and he had a hard race and when he came back from that his enthusiasm for racing just wasn’t the same. He was coming out the stalls very slowly and half thinking about things.
“We did a few things at home to just try and spark him up again and rekindle some enthusiasm. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but when it does it is particularly satisfying and today he raced like a horse in love with racing. He jumped out the gates good and travelled as well as anything and he really fought against a really tough horse in Popmaster.”
Atrium holds an entry for the Balmoral Handicap on Qipco British Champions Day but a return to Ascot is not guaranteed, with Fellowes cautious of asking his charge to go into battle again with a big date in the sales ring looming.
“I do very much have in the back of mind how hard the Doncaster race hit him,” he added.
“He’s in the horses in training sale and I think if the owners were keeping him next year I would be more interested in running again. But he’s due to be sold and potentially it would be a silly move to go and run him again quickly two weeks later after he’s had a hard race and if he was to run poorly it may give potential buyers a question mark over him.
“We’ll see. I would love to run him if we were keeping him, but he’s going to go to the sales and there is a decision to be made.”
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