Aston Villa manager Unai Emery said his side deserved the win after they were pegged back in a late 1-1 draw by Bournemouth in the Premier League. 

Coming on the back of a 2-0 defeat of Bologna – their third straight win in the Champions League which propelled them to the top of the 36-team table – Villa were frustrated by a brilliant goalkeeping display from Mark Travers. 

But they found a way past the 25-year-old custodian in the 76th minute when Ross Barkley came off the bench to turn in a ball from Leon Bailey. 

The Cherries, however, had the final say at Villa Park as Evanilson glanced a Marcus Tavernier free-kick into the net to salvage a point for the visitors in the sixth minute of stoppage time. 

The result left Spanish tactician Emery frustrated as Villa were held to a third draw in four league matches, despite an expected goals (xG) tally of 1.8 and several attempts on target against the visitors on Saturday. 

"We played a fantastic match. We played I think the best minutes since the start of the season. The first half we controlled the game, but we didn't score, or when we did it was a no goal,” Emery told Sky Sports. 

"The second half we started even better than the first half. We were pushing, dominating, creating chances. The goalkeeper was saving a lot of times.

"We scored the goal, fantastic, but we didn't manage the last 10 minutes. They scored at the last moment and we have to accept it.

Ben Stokes has no doubt that England's battling line-up features the country's "best top six players", despite a capitulation against Pakistan.

A 2-1 series defeat for England was confirmed on Saturday, as Pakistan claimed a nine-wicket triumph in Rawalpindi.

The tourists were undone by Pakistan's spin bowlers, with Sajid Khan and Noman Ali seeing England all out for 112, their lowest-ever total in Pakistan. 

England started the series with an emphatic victory, with Joe Root and Harry Brook dominating the first Test, but in matches two and three, their batting left much to be desired.

Captain Stokes, though, is confident in the squad.

"There is no doubt in my mind that we have got the best top six players in England," Stokes told Sky Sports.

"You always pick your best players.

The last couple of Tests we've been thrown some challenges and it's pretty easy to assess that we weren't able to stand up to those challenges."

Stokes also put the onus on himself to improve, after he struggled to get going following his return from injury.

"I am always trying to evolve and adapt whether against spin or pace," he said.

"The disappointment is always there, it always hits hard, but when you have so much experience to fall back on it is a little bit easier to take."

Ollie Pope, meanwhile, has come under criticism for his performances, but coach Brendon McCullum was quick to come to his defence.

"What he did through the summer, stepping up with his captaincy and leadership and him stepping up into that role, even his 150 in that final Test match, we know when he gets in, he gets big scores and defining scores as well," said McCullum said.

"It's not an easy place to bat at number three. I know he'll be disappointed with the volume of runs in this series but I expect him to bounce back in New Zealand.

"We'll make sure he's got the required support to do so."

England's next Test series sees them face New Zealand, starting next month.

Brentford manager Thomas Frank said he was still irritated after his side defeated visitors Ipswich Town 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller in the Premier League.

Bryan Mbeumo struck a 96th-minute winner at the Gtech Community Stadium as the Bees recorded their fourth win of their 2024-25 league campaign. 

Sam Szmodics and George Hirst gave Ipswich a 2-0 lead, but Yoane Wissa initiated a Brentford comeback before Harry Clarke’s own goal levelled the scores. 

Mbeumo then struck to give the hosts the lead before Clarke was sent off for Ipswich, who did not give up without a fight and restored parity through substitute Liam Delap late on. 

However, Mbeumo scored his second of the game to cap off a positive, yet tense outing for Frank and the Brentford faithful. 

"Being completely honest, I am still irritated. In many ways we did not do well enough, so big respect and praise to Ipswich,” the Brentford boss told BBC Sport after the game.

“They were by far the better team for the first 40 minutes, there was only one team on the pitch. It was one of our worst ever in the Premier League. 

"The last five was better and then in the second half, we were clearly the better team and got back to 3-2 and then lacked the killer instinct to finish it off.

Bayer Leverkusen twice took the lead but conceded a 90th-minute equaliser to draw 2-2 at Werder Bremen.

Victor Boniface, playing with a bandaged hand, flicked in a Jeremie Frimpong cutback in the 30th minute to put the champions in the driving seat.

He had missed Wednesday's Champions League 1-1 draw at Brest after suffering minor hand and foot injuries as a passenger in a car crash on Sunday, a day after he had scored the winner in Leverkusen's victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Boniface, who has now scored six league goals this season, had a chance to add another on the hour but Bremen goalkeeper Michael Zetterer pulled off a stunning save.

Instead, it was Bremen who scored with Marvin Duksch's powerful header in the 74th to level. Their joy only lasted three minutes, though, as Felix Agu, under pressure, spectacularly miskicked for an own goal.

Bremen, however, came back again, and Romano Schmid fired in a 90th-minute equaliser to snatch a point.

Leverkusen are third on 15 points, two behind second-placed Bayern Munich, who are in action on Sunday. 

Data Debrief: Ducksch comes up trumps

Duksch accumulated the second-highest expected goals (xG) total in the game (0.65) and took the most shots in the match (seven).

That tally of shots is the most by a Bremen player in a Bundesliga match this term.

Lukas Hradecky, meanwhile, was making his 200th Bundesliga appearance for Leverkusen, becoming the first non-German player to hit that milestone for the club.

Despite Bremen's late equaliser, they have now won just one of their last 15 competitive matches against Leverkusen.

Girona suffered a 1-0 defeat at lowly Las Palmas as a first-half goal from Alex Munoz proved decisive in LaLiga.

Munoz put Las Palmas ahead three minutes before the break with a first-time strike, capitalising on a cross that sailed over the box to find him unmarked.

The visitors showed little urgency in chasing an equaliser, allowing Las Palmas to control most of the match with the home side coming close to doubling their lead.

Girona saw their substitute goalkeeper Juan Carlos sent off from the bench in the 74th minute for abusive language, with their team also awarded a further five yellow cards.

As the clock ran down, Girona intensified their efforts to find a leveller, but their momentum was disrupted by injury stoppages, and Las Palmas secured the victory.

After defying expectations to finish third last season, Girona now sit 13th with 12 points, while Las Palmas are just outside the relegation zone in 17th with nine.

Data Debrief: Las Palmas clinch victory against the odds

Prior to facing Girona, Las Palmas had not won any of their last 12 home games in La Liga (D6 L6), their longest winless run at home in the top flight.

They had a similarly poor record against Girona. At home, Las Palmas had not won any of their last five games in all competitions against their opponents (D1 L4).

Defeat ends Girona coach Michel's unbeaten streak against Las Palmas. He had previously faced them six times in all competitions without losing (W5 D1). 

West Indies ended their tour of Sri Lanka with a win as an unbeaten century from Evin Lewis helped them defeat the hosts by eight wickets via DLS method in the third and final ODI in Pallekele. 

Sri Lanka had secured the series with a five-wicket win in the second ODI on Wednesday, but Lewis’ unbeaten 102 off 61 balls gave the Windies a morale-boosting victory in the final ODI. 

West Indies had sent Sri Lanka to bat, but their innings was disturbed by rain in the 18th over. Upon returning to the crease after a five-hour delay, they were only given 5.4 overs to set a competitive total. 

The hosts managed 75 runs after the restart with Kusal Mendis headlining their innings with an unbeaten 56 off 22 balls as Sri Lanka finished with 156-3. 

Chasing a DLS-adjusted target of 195 in 23 overs, Lewis hit a swashbuckling hundred in his first ODI since 2021 with support coming from Sherfane Rutherford, who smashed an unbeaten 50 off 26 deliveries. 

West Indies reached the target with one over to spare, and they will gather some confidence from the win as they prepare for the ODI series against England starting on October 31. 

Beto’s stoppage-time equaliser secured a point for Everton as they came back to draw 1-1 against Fulham at Goodison Park.

The substitute’s intervention extended the host’s unbeaten run to five Premier League matches as Fulham were frustrated despite a dominant display.

Alex Iwobi, on his former stomping ground, put Marco Silva’s team deservedly ahead in the 61st minute.

The assistant’s offside flag had spared Fulham in the first half, when Dominic Calvert-Lewin saw a goal ruled out for offside after Idrissa Gueye had struck the woodwork.

That was the closest Everton came until Beto came up with a close-range header in the 94th minute.

While Fulham sit 10th after stopping the rot following two defeats on the bounce, Everton move up to 15th on nine points.

Data Debrief: Beto proves the saviour at Goodison Park

Despite entering the field after 81 minutes, Beto offered the most of all Everton's forwards. He had the highest expected goals (xG) total from among Dyche's side (0.39).

Such was Everton's lack of attacking output until his entry, he also took the most shots among his teammates (three), only second to Raul Jimenez from both sides (four).

He scored his fourth Premier League (35th appearance), either putting his side ahead (one) or equalising (two) with three of the four.

Antonio Conte refused to criticise his Napoli players after they laboured to another hard-fought win against one of Serie A's lesser lights on Saturday.

One week after beating Empoli 1-0, the Partenopei overcame 19th-placed Lecce by the same scoreline as Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored on the rebound in the 73rd minute.

Napoli are now unbeaten in their last eight league games, winning seven and drawing one, their best run since February 2023, when they went on to win the Scudetto.

Despite a series of flat attacking displays, they are five points clear of nearest rivals Inter ahead of the Nerazzurri's clash with Juventus on Sunday, and Conte refused to criticise their performances when speaking to DAZN.

"I have little to reproach the team today. I look at the statistics that can mean all or nothing, but today we had great ball possession and 16 corners," Conte said.

"They defended in an organised way, but we attacked. When you attack and don't score, then a bit of nervousness can take over.

"I calmed them down, because you have to have the maturity and patience to keep going, move the ball around and create chances to score."

Calmness is what is required according to Conte, especially against teams who set up to stop Napoli playing, with Lecce adopting a defence-first approach after losing 6-0 to Fiorentina last time out.

"We did what we had to, we dominated from start to finish. I can't ask more of the players looking at the statistics from the game," Conte said at his post-match press conference.

"I can ask that when the teams close down you have to have patience and calm. I'm happy because they are very difficult games.

"The standings don't reflect fairly on Lecce, I wish them the best and I'm sure they will get salvation."

Napoli midfielder Frank Anguissa gave an insight into Conte's reaction after a scoreless first half.

"He didn't shout. He told us to continue playing as we know how, and to remain calm," Anguissa told DAZN.

"It's always difficult playing against a team that defends so low. I'm happy for Di Lorenzo and for the squad."

Nuri Sahin has called for a united front at Borussia Dortmund as he looks to guide them through a tough patch.

Dortmund lost 2-1 to Augsburg on Saturday, ending a seven-match unbeaten run in the Bundesliga against the Bavarian club.

Donyell Malen put Dortmund ahead on Saturday after just four minutes, but Alexis Claude-Maurice's double saw Augsburg come back to claim the points.

It marked the second time in the space of five days that Dortmund had been on the wrong end of a comeback, after their 5-2 Champions League loss to Real Madrid.

Dortmund, who had 76% of the ball but accumulated just 0.92 expected goals (xG), have not won any of their four away games in the Bundesliga this season and remain in seventh place on 13 points.

"Having [close to] 80% possession does not necessarily mean more chances. We just did not get into the danger area often enough," Sahin said.

"Fact is, for 80% possession we had far too few chances. We need to work on creating more chances.

"Our squad is not without experience and I expect all of us together, players and coaches, to face this current situation and go through it together."

Sunderland defeated Oxford United 2-0 to go five points clear at the top of the Championship, as second-placed Burnley were held by Queens Park Rangers. 

Jobe Bellingham opened the scoring for Sunderland in the 16th minute before hitting the woodwork in the second half, but Wilson Isidor gave the home side the insurance of a second goal in the 63rd minute against 14th-placed Oxford at the Stadium of Light. 

The result was Regis Le Bris' side's third win in the space of six days, having beaten Hull City and Luton Town earlier in the week.

And Sunderland also saw their title rivals slip up to cap off a fine week.

After third-placed Leeds United were held to a goalless draw by Bristol City, Burnley suffered the same fate against QPR later in the day, allowing the leaders to extend their advantage.