Marco Asensio's 20-yard finish helped Real Madrid to a low-key 1-0 victory over relegation-threatened Getafe in LaLiga on Saturday.

The Spain international fired home a superb strike with 20 minutes to play at Santiago Bernabeu to keep Los Blancos in the mix for a top-two finish.

With Barcelona poised to claim the league crown imminently, Carlo Ancelotti's priorities have long since shifted to mounting a successful defence of their Champions League crown.

But he will nevertheless be happy to ensure they maintain some unbeaten momentum after seeing off Jose Bordalas' struggling visitors.

With a much-rotated side fielded in deference to Wednesday's impending European crunch clash with Manchester City, Madrid shaded a lacklustre first half between the two.

Asensio missed an opportunity after tapping a soft finish straight to keeper David Soria off Aurelien Tchouameni's smart delivery, while Dani Ceballos was wildly off-target just beyond the half-hour mark.

Getafe themselves struggled to press their hosts for an opener of their own, and were mostly limited to a flurry of half-chances for Juan Iglesias that were ably dealt with in the opening quarter-hour.

That overall lack of quality saw Ancelotti introduce a slew of first-team regulars after the break, with Vinicius Junior and Luka Modric both brought on.

But it was Asensio who finally won it after he struck from distance, with a handy deflection helping his effort squirm beneath Soria and in at the right post.

Vinicius saw a late breakaway chalked off for offside, yet Madrid were untroubled across the closing stages, securing three points with little fuss.

Inter's great week continued as Romelu Lukaku scored a brilliant double in a 4-2 win over Sassuolo at San Siro on Saturday.

With one foot in the Champions League final after Wednesday's 2-0 first-leg victory over city rivals Milan, Inter took advantage of the Rossoneri losing at Spezia to put even more space between the two sides in Serie A.

Lukaku put the hosts ahead when he arrowed in from distance before Ruan put through his own net, while Lautaro Martinez scored via a deflection as the Nerazzurri earned a seventh straight win in all competitions.

Matheus Henrique and Davide Frattesi pulled goals back for the mid-table visitors, but Lukaku smashed in a fourth for Simone Inzaghi's men late on as they move up to third and crucially five points above Milan in fifth, putting them in the driver's seat to seal Champions League qualification with three games to play.

A VAR review came to Inter's rescue early on, ruling Armand Lauriente offside after his cross was poked home at the back post by Domenico Berardi.

The hosts had a goal of their own ruled out minutes later, Andrea Consigli unable to keep out Joaquin Correa's effort only for the offside flag to curtail the celebrations.

Henrique and Frattesi spurned golden opportunities to put the visitors ahead, and they were made to pay for those misses as Lukaku's long-range drive flew into the top corner four minutes before half-time.

Martinez came on at the break as Inter pressed to double their lead, and they would do exactly that when Ruan sliced Raoul Bellanova's cross-shot into his own net.

The hosts received another huge slice of luck to make it 3-0 before the hour mark, Martinez seeing his effort hit the beleaguered Ruan and completely wrong-foot Consigli before nestling in.

Sassuolo narrowed the deficit through late headers by Henrique and Frattesi but Lukaku would seal the win when he coolly fired past Consigli from Marcelo Brozovic's pass to make the points safe.

Division One leaders Warwickshire claimed their third LV= Insurance County Championship win of the season after beating fellow title hopefuls Essex inside three days at Edgbaston.

Chris Rushworth produced another stunning display as Essex were dismissed for 215 in their second innings, the veteran seamer taking four for 62 to finish with match figures of eight for 90.

The winter arrival from Durham has now taken 30 wickets this season and his efforts, combined with Hasan Ali (four for 48), left Warwickshire needing exactly 100 for victory, which they knocked off with four wickets to spare.

Dane Paterson claimed five wickets as Nottinghamshire earned victory by an innings and 25 runs over Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.

The Steelbacks were reeling at 11 for four after Paterson’s first four victims came in an opening burst of eight overs and, despite Saif Zaib showing some resilience with 26, they were dismissed for just 72.

Northamptonshire collapsed in their first innings, losing seven wickets for 17 runs as Nottinghamshire’s bowling attack proved too strong.

Earlier Joe Clarke (76) scored his second half-century of the season to give Nottinghamshire a 97-run advantage which could have been more but for career-best figures of four for 24 for James Sales. Tom Taylor also took four wickets.

Surrey moved into the driving seat against Middlesex at the Kia Oval as a first-innings lead of 171 gave them hope of securing a third win of the season.

Jamie Smith made 97 and their last three wickets added 97 to swell their total to 380.

Middlesex, hustled out for 209 the first time around, were 128 for three at the close, still 43 behind.

Daryl Mitchell scored a debut century to put Lancashire back into contention against Somerset at Emirates Old Trafford.

The New Zealander’s brilliant knock of 105 helped a Red Roses side missing the injured James Anderson close their first innings on 326, just 35 behind the visitors.

Somerset extended that lead to 149 at the close as they reached stumps at 114 for three with opener Tom Lammonby unbeaten on 40.

Kent – dismissed for just 95 in their first innings – must battle hard against Hampshire at Canterbury to avoid defeat.

The hosts are on 66 for no loss in their second innings, trailing by 212, with Zak Crawley unbeaten on 35 and Ben Compton 30 not out.

Earlier Liam Dawson hit 84, Joe Weatherly 58 and James Fuller 51 as Hampshire posted 373 in their first innings to take a firm grip on proceedings.

Timm van der Gugten cemented his place as the leading bowler in Division Two this season as Glamorgan wrapped up a convincing victory over Worcestershire in Cardiff.

The Australian-Dutch international claimed his third five-wicket haul of the season as Worcestershire were bowled out in the first hour of play. Glamorgan openers Eddie Byrom (51 not out) and captain David Lloyd (30 not out) chased down the target of 79 to seal a 10-wicket win.

That gave Glamorgan their first victory of the season and 20 points, while Worcestershire slipped to a second defeat since their opening-round victory against Derbyshire.

Yorkshire and Durham set up thrilling finale at Seat Unique Riverside.

Defending a total of 246, Matthew Fisher claimed four wickets to turn the game in the favour of the visitors after Durham had threatened to inch their way towards victory courtesy of a fifty from Michael Jones.

Durham were 173 for eight before Ben Raine (32 not out) and Matthew Potts (13 not out) formed a defiant partnership of 40.

The home side require 33 runs to win with two wickets remaining but the fitness of Brydon Carse, who missed all of day three due to injury, is a huge concern.

Sussex boosted their bid to take over top spot in Division Two by forcing Leicestershire to follow on at Grace Road.

The home side were dismissed for 270 – with four-wicket hauls for Ari Karvelas and Fynn Hudson-Prentice – in reply to Sussex’s 430 before reaching stumps 16 without loss in their second go.

Derbyshire opener Harry Came claimed his maiden first-class century with 108 from 192 balls against Gloucestershire at Derby.

Came’s effort took Derbyshire to 251 for nine declared and, in an even rain-affected contest, Gloucestershire reached 195 for five with Ben Charlesworth unbeaten on 58.

Carlos Alcaraz made a winning debut at the Italian Open and will now return to the top of the men’s world rankings.

Alcaraz cruised to a 6-4 6-1 victory over fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in Rome, but just by stepping on court the 20-year-old guaranteed taking the number one spot from Novak Djokovic following the ATP Masters 1000 event.

“It wasn’t easy,” Alcaraz was quoted as saying on the official ATP website after a 12th straight victory improved his record to 30-2 this season.

“The first round of every tournament is really tough and of course Albert, especially on clay, is a really tough opponent.

“I had to adapt my game really quickly to be able to get though. The conditions weren’t easy as well, the rain, the waiting all day.

“I didn’t know if I was going to play or not. But I’m really happy with my performance at the end.”

Roberto Carballes Baena overcame Great Britain’s Dan Evans 7-6 (5) 5-7 6-4, and there were also second round wins for Borna Coric, JJ Wolf and Lorenzo Sonego.

World number six Andrey Rublev overcame Alex Molcan 6-3 6-4 in a second-round match featuring two rain interruptions.

“I’m happy that I was able to finish just before the rain,” said Rublev, speaking as the bad weather returned soon after match point.

“I really like slower courts, especially when it’s weather like this, cold and rainy. I like it even more because I have more time.”

In the women’s singles, Camila Osorio claimed a milestone third-round win by upsetting number five Caroline Garcia in straight sets.

The 6-4 6-4 win was the first Top 5 victory of the Colombian’s career and takes her into the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event for the first time.

Osorio’s next challenge is number 12 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who defeated Magda Linette 7-5 6-4 in a first-time meeting.

China’s Wang Xiyu advanced against Taylor Townsend after coming back from a break down in the final set and saving one match point to triumph 6-2 0-6 7-5.

Wang said: “I just tried my best and fight every point. It was good, I fought until the end.”

Number 11 seed Veronika Kudermetova, Anhelina Kalinina and Qinwen Zheng also progressed into the last 16 before the rain arrived.

Borussia Dortmund kept the pressure on Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga title race after Sebastien Haller and Donyell Malen starred in a 5-2 thrashing of Borussia Monchengladbach.

Bayern's 6-0 rout of Schalke sent the champions four points clear at the top prior to Saturday's kick-off at Signal Iduna Park, where Dortmund soon sliced that advantage to one again.

Edin Terzic's hosts surged into a 4-0 lead inside 32 minutes as Malen opened the scoring and twice teed up Haller, with Jude Bellingham also on target from the penalty spot.

Ramy Bensebaini pulled one back with a 75th-minute penalty and substitute Lars Stindl also struck for Gladbach, but Giovanni Reyna made sure it was an emphatic Dortmund victory with a stoppage-time strike.

Dortmund needed only five minutes to open the scoring as Malen headed home from point-blank range after Haller's deflected strike left Jan Olschowsky stranded.

A fine Gregor Kobel stop against Bensebaini denied Gladbach an immediate response, with that save proving vital as Dortmund struck a double blow soon after.

Bellingham squirmed an unconvincing penalty past Olschowsky after Florian Neuhaus had needlessly felled Haller, who added a third just two minutes later when flicking Malen's low cross into the bottom-left corner.

Another right-wing centre from Malen brought Haller's second as the Dortmund forward volleyed emphatically into the top-right corner.

A stretching Olschowsky thwarted a fizzing Bellingham drive after the interval.

Bensebaini reduced the deficit with a penalty after a Reyna foul, before Stindl whipped into the bottom-right corner for another consolation goal with five minutes left.

But the Gladbach fightback arrived too late and it was Reyna who had the last word when he tapped home a late Dortmund fifth from an Olschowsky mistake.

What does it mean? Dortmund remain in the hunt

Bayern will remain buoyed by the fact the last time the Bundesliga title race was this close after 31 matchdays, the Bavarian giants ousted Wolfsburg to league glory 14 years ago.

But Dortmund continue to hold their end of the deal in the battle for German top-flight glory, pushing Thomas Tuchel's side all the way after their 17th win in 18 competitive home games against Gladbach.

Home form has been key for Terzic's side this season, too, with no team in Europe's top five leagues scoring more goals on their own soil than Dortmund's 53 in 2023.

Marvellous Malen

Malen may have turned provider in a delightful display of selfless creativity against Gladbach but his rich vein of scoring form also continued.

The Dortmund forward has scored eight goals in his last eight league matches, while he has found the net in each of his last six home Bundesliga outings.

Grim Gladbach struggle on road again

A trip to Dortmund was always likely to prove a troublesome task, given Terzic's men had won a club-record 10 home league matches in a row before this visit.

The nature of Gladbach's crumbling came as no surprise as well, with Daniel Farke's side having now just won one of their last 16 top-flight away games this season (D6 L9).

What's next?

Dortmund visit Augsburg on Sunday May 21, which is also when Gladbach travel to Bayer Leverkusen.

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson refuses to step on Gareth Southgate’s toes when it comes to Eberechi Eze despite a two-goal afternoon from the England hopeful.

The 24-year-old netted either side of half-time at Selhurst Park to lift his side to a 2-0 victory over Bournemouth, who could still secure their mathematical Premier League safety this weekend depending on results elsewhere.

Eze was believed to have been amongst the names on England boss Southgate’s long-list ahead of the World Cup, but former national team manager Hodgson made clear he would not try to influence any decisions about his midfielder’s international future.

He said: “It’s a question for Gareth I’m afraid, Gareth and [assistant manager] Steve Holland. I know they follow the team, our team closely, they follow the players, so what I’ve seen they will have seen and it will be totally and utterly up to them if they decide if what they’re seeing is what they’re looking for.

“No one would be happier for Ebs if he got selected, but I’m certainly not going to be the person who starts making those suggestions and telling the national team coach what he should do.

“I had four years of people telling me what I should be doing, so I made a definite rule that if I ever got back into club football no one is every going to pick up a newspaper, Gareth Southgate, and hear ‘Roy Hodgson thinks’.

“Roy Hodgson thinks what he thinks, and if Gareth ever wants to know what I’m thinking he knows where to find me, and we’re close enough friends for him to ask me.”

Eze, who has now netted 10 times for Palace this season, has thrived since Hodgson’s arrival in March and has credited the 75-year-old manager for an uptick in performance.

His first goal against the Cherries came as a result of some fine work from Wilfried Zaha, who evaded his marker and sent the ball in the direction of Jordan Ayew, who flicked the ball backwards to his team-mate for a neat finish after 39 minutes.

Michael Olise then became the first player in Palace history to pick up 10 assists in a single Premier League season when his long ball found Eze after the restart to set up a mazy run ending in an impossible save for Neto in the top right corner.

O’Neil’s side have all but assured themselves top-flight safety, but Saturday’s result means they may not have the chance to secure it on the pitch if results at Everton and Leicester, on Sunday and Monday respectively, go in their favour.

It will still be another week before Bournemouth can take their campaign to 40 points, but O’Neil himself will be turning the big 4-0 on his birthday this Thursday.

He said: “I won’t be celebrating. We’ll get to the end of the season and reflect on everything. I’ll have a clearer picture on what we have achieved, what we had and where we fell short, where we need to improve, what we’ve done well.

“In the summer I’ll give myself a small amount of time before we get ready for next season.

“Hopefully it’s mathematically done. We were looking to take care of ourselves today, but I think the fact that we were all but safe with four to go is a big achievement for the group and they should be very proud of what they have achieved.

“But a nice little reminder for them today that if you take your foot off the gas and you try and stand still then things can go past you very, very quickly.”

Milan's hopes of finishing in Serie A's top four received another blow on Saturday as they were beaten 2-0 by relegation-threatened Spezia.

The Rossoneri headed to Stadio Alberto Picco on a seven-match league unbeaten run but still stinging from Wednesday's 2-0 first-leg defeat to city rivals Inter in the Champions League semi-finals.

Stefano Pioli's men put in another frustrating display against stubborn Spezia, twice denied by the post before Przemyslaw Wisniewski and Salvatore Esposito struck late on as the hosts claimed three points for the first time in nine league games.

The result means fifth-placed Milan remain two points behind fourth-placed Inter and three ahead of Roma, though both of those teams could yet take advantage of their latest slip-up this weekend, leaving the Rossoneri with work to do to attain Champions League qualification. 

Milan hit the woodwork seven minutes in through Sandro Tonali, who sent a low effort flying towards the bottom-left corner but watched it come back off the post.

Bartlomiej Dragowski then made a crucial stop to tip Theo Hernandez's rasping drive over the crossbar as Milan failed to break through Spezia's resilient defence.

The hosts went close shortly after the break as Mehdi Bourabia curled just over from range, while Brahim Diaz hit the outside of the post for Milan from a very tight angle.

Spezia hit the front with 15 minutes remaining, Kelvin Amian hitting the post from a corner before Wisniewski poked in the rebound to send the home fans into raptures.

Their victory was made safe five minutes from time, Esposito curling a delightful free-kick over the wall and into the top-left corner as Milan's dismal week ended on another sour note. 

Frank Lampard called on his players to be killers in attack if they are to emulate Raheem Sterling’s two goals in the 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest and finally vanquish the team’s scoring woes.

Chelsea were booed off at the break against struggling Forest, trailing to Taiwo Awoniyi’s header after Edouard Mendy had flapped at a cross on his return to the side.

It then took just seven second-half minutes for Sterling to turn the game on its head and remind those same supporters of the potential the England forward still has to transform a match single-handedly.

His first he owed to good work from Noni Madueke and Trevoh Chalobah down the right and to a fortunate deflection off Ryan Yates who lay stricken on the turf, but his second was a sublime solo effort, ramming the ball into Keylor Navas’ bottom corner after finding space inside the box.

Lampard said Sterling’s example was one the whole team would need to follow going into next season if Chelsea are to put this miserable campaign behind them.

“Raheem’s a player that has the credit in the bank, he’s been a regular scorer in the Premier League and for his country,” said the Blues boss.

“To see him score there (the first goal) was Raheem. Arriving for a cross, and then individual brilliance to score the (second) goal. I’m very happy for him. It’s what we need across the top end of the pitch.

“Raheem has done it and he’s produced it again. If you’re going to win games when you have 76 per cent possession, you need to be killers at the top end of the pitch, and Raheem is proven to be that. At the moment we don’t have enough of that.”

The draw means Chelsea are still without a home win since Lampard returned as interim manager on April 6 and saw them slip back into 12th place with Crystal Palace’s win over Bournemouth.

Aside from Sterling’s solo intervention, there was little to suggest the goalscoring troubles that have derailed their season have an end in sight.

Lampard added: “What pleased me was not so much the week’s training, it was more the idea of what the plan is before the game that we were going to have a lot of ball in their half, so we have to be really dynamic to move their back five, we have to make sure our counter-press positions are good, which they are to be fair.

“What displeased me was that in the first half we didn’t do it with enough urgency to break the back five; sideways, safe. Then in the second half when we did, we underlapped them and get a goal and we showed urgency in our running forward and we get another goal.”

Forest kept themselves at the head of the Premier League’s four relegation-threatened sides with Awoniyi’s second goal of the game in the second half stealing a point, ensuring the gap to 18th-placed Leeds remained at three going into the season’s final two games.

“Probably a mix really of some disappointed guys in the dressing room, and I like that, because although we had to work really hard for what we got today, we could easily have got a little bit more,” said Forest boss Cooper.

“It’s the mixed feeling really of that, and also knowing that we gave everything, we stuck to the plan, we showed good resilience from going 2-1 down when really, I wouldn’t say we gifted it to Chelsea but we could have done so much better with them goals.

“We knew Chelsea were going to have the ball, we were away from home. But the game was going exactly as we wanted it to go. So to quickly turn it to go to 2-1 down and then to get something out of the game I think is a positive as well. There’s loads to take out of the game.

“It feels like we’re giving away goals more easily than how we’re scoring them. Look at the two goals  today, great strategy in terms of the set-piece for the second one, good technique for the cross and the head for the first.

“I’ve never had to question the attitude, desire, resilience, commitment, that part of the mentality. At times a little bit of belief, and concentration and a bit of confidence away from home.

“That’s why at times we’ve had what we’ve had. It was good really after going 2-1 down to get something out of the game because I don’t think many would have backed us to get anything today.”

Ruben Selles admits standards at Southampton have not been good enough after Premier League relegation was sealed by a limp 2-0 loss to Fulham.

Second-half goals from Carlos Vinicius and Aleksandar Mitrovic inflicted a club-record 24th defeat of the season on the division’s bottom side to leave them eight points from safety with two fixtures remaining.

Captain James Ward-Prowse conceded at full-time that Saints should have performed better across a dismal campaign, an assessment echoed by manager Selles.

“It’s a tough day for everybody, the performance on the pitch was not what we expect it to be and we were not good enough today and that’s why we are in this situation,” said the Spaniard.

“If we were in our standards, we would not be talking about this situation right now. We need to face it like that.

“I don’t think there is one point where you can say that is exactly the point where it happened.

“As a club we need to evaluate and see what the standards that James referred to are and be sure that when the club starts the next season those standards are on point.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – a Saints fan – was among those in attendance at St Mary’s as the hosts’ 11-season stay in the top flight ended in tame fashion.

He witnessed a team lacking confidence, ideas and urgency produce another feeble performance of a miserable campaign featuring three managers and just two home league wins.

Boos and chants of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” from disgruntled home supporters greeted the full-time whistle.

Selles, who has been in charge for 14 of Saints’ 36 top-flight matches this term following the sackings of Ralph Hasenhuttl and then Nathan Jones, felt he should have been able to inspire better results.

“I take all the responsibility for the last three months, that’s my responsibility,” he said.

“I should be able to win more football matches. I should be able to have a team that competes better.

“I think I could have done (things) different; more is difficult but I think I can do different. I made my mistakes like any other and of course it was not good enough.”

Fulham boss Marco Silva expressed sympathy with Southampton as he reflected on his “perfect” team selection.

The Portuguese opted to stick with the starting XI which began Monday’s 5-3 win over Leicester and then watched substitute Mitrovic, who was returning from an eight-game ban, seal victory seven minutes after replacing opening goalscorer Vinicius.

“Sometimes you do things and they look perfect,” he said.

“When you have Mitro ready to go, there’s a temptation to start with him because he’s the top goal-scorer, he’s been a crucial player for me and for this football club.

“But I knew what Carlos can provide and deliver for us.

“To see at the end the connection between the players and the fans is a great feeling for me. We deserved the three points.”

Speaking about Saints’ plight, Silva said: “All the sympathy with this football club.

“It’s a tough period for this club, a big club, and it deserves probably to be in a different situation.

“For sure they can come stronger next season to be able to play again in the Premier League because a club like Southampton they probably deserve this situation. It’s up to them now to come stronger next season.”

Erik ten Hag highlighted Alejandro Garnacho’s bravery, maturity and confidence after the Manchester United teenager made a goalscoring return after a two-month injury lay-off.

The nascent 18-year-old talent, who recently signed a new deal until 2028, received an excellent reception on his first appearance since sustaining an ankle injury against Southampton on March 12.

Garnacho was brought on in the 82nd minute and scored with a stoppage-time strike off the post in front of the Stretford End to wrap up a 2-0 victory against Wolves.

Ten Hag was happy with all his introductions after a few weeks when he said the “subs were bad”, but the Argentinian took the headlines after United got their top-four tilt back on track.

“Garna, of course, scored a great goal,” the United boss said. “He came in, he did I think almost everything good and then he scored a goal.

“That will give him belief and that is good for us for the rest of the season that he is back. It’ll give him confidence and he can have an impact.

“He is showing when you score some winners, like Fulham, assist against City, for instance. Now the second goal, he is showing some things.

“Also sometimes he lacks defensive transition, in pressing, he has to step up in such things. Also, when you are going into an action or keep the ball, so decisions.

“But I think when you see it all over, yeah, he is a huge talent and he’s brave.”

Garnacho arrived from Atletico Madrid in 2020 and was last season’s Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year having played a key role in United’s FA Youth Cup triumph.

The Argentina youth international frustrated Ten Hag during pre-season but has since won the Dutchman over, making 30 first-team appearances so far this campaign.

“One of the aspects from the biggest talent is that they are mature,” the United boss said. “First, they take responsibility and, second, they are mature.

“To bring in their skills, they have belief that they can dominate opponents and I think once again he did it.

“He has a big impact in many games either when starting or coming on, he’s ready, straight into the game and that is so important for the squad you can bring such players.

“I am happy that you can bring young players and hopefully he will progress so quickly that he can compete for a starting XI position because that is his next challenge.”

Garnacho’s strike was United’s 100th goal of the season in all competitions and complemented Anthony Martial’s opener in a 25th Old Trafford victory of the campaign.

The win was an important response to defeats at Brighton and West Ham, which had allowed Liverpool to close the gap in the race for Champions League qualification.

“You have to deal (with setbacks),” Ten Hag said, “Everyone told me in United it is never going in the easy way, we go the difficult way.

“I think the team was ready for this battle, for this fight.

“Once again, we make the goalie of the opponent the man of the match, so we could have made life easier if we score the second goal early on.

“But we have the points, we are happy with that and we move on.”

Wolves failed to muster a shot on target as their poor away form continued, leaving boss Julen Lopetegui frustrated.

“Obviously, the result was not good for us, but we tried to compete with them,” said the Spaniard, who praised goalkeeper Dan Bentley after making an impressive Premier League debut.

“In the context of the match, the first half, we suffered one goal in one mistake that we had and they didn’t have any more chances.

“In the second half, we take a risk, we dominate the game and had situations when we could have done better.

“In the end, it was a pity, we tried, but, in the end, they deserved to win.”

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes praised his players for displaying both ‘fire and ice’ in a vital 2-0 victory over Livingston which lifted them out of the cinch Premiership relegation zone.

After a tense and goalless first half at Rugby Park, the home side secured all three points thanks to Kyle Vassell’s opener and a Danny Armstrong penalty awarded after a VAR check on handball against Livingston midfielder Jason Holt.

Kilmarnock are now in 10th place in the table, three points above bottom club Dundee United and just two points behind ninth-placed St Johnstone who they host next Saturday.

“We spoke at half-time about the need for calm,” said McInnes. “It’s that thing about fire and ice – you want to be passionate and show you’re motivated, whilst also being calm.

“We were too nervy and too agitated in the first half. It was frantic and we didn’t have enough composure in the game.

“Our passes forward needed to be more measured into our strikers. Getting the goal at the start of the second half really settled everyone down. You could feel it in the whole stadium.

“Livingston are a tough team to play against when you know you need a result. They are really compact and pick up a lot of scraps and second balls.

“They can make you nervous with how hard they work – but I wanted my players to outwork Livingston. If we could do that, we knew it’d give us a chance.

“We got the break from VAR with the penalty. That’s probably one of the first breaks we’ve had from VAR.

“I wasn’t actually sure if it was a penalty. I thought it hit the boy’s shoulder. But the fourth official said to me it was a penalty. At 2-0, you then started to see the confidence coming back.”

Livingston manager David Martindale was unhappy with his players as they slumped to a seventh consecutive away defeat without scoring a goal.

“Our away form since the turn of the year has been nothing short of horrific,” said Martindale.

“I have changed the shape and the personnel but we are not getting the winning formula. I would have happily walked away from here at half-time with a 0-0.

“We then lose a stupid goal and a penalty which is a penalty all day long. We speak about it all the time but players still throw their hands in the air.

“We only have ourselves to blame as we are not doing the basics at both ends of the park. It is definitely a confidence issue but we need to dig deep and get it back.”

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell hailed Kevin van Veen’s commitment after the striker played through injury to net in his eighth consecutive game.

The Dutchman overcame a foot knock which he had suffered last weekend to score a re-taken penalty in confident style as Well beat St Johnstone 2-0 to confirm their cinch Premiership status for another year.

Van Veen saw his initial effort saved but Remi Matthews was penalised for coming off his line too early and the in-form striker then chipped his second penalty over the diving goalkeeper to give the visitors a 52nd-minute lead.

It was his 26th goal of the season, his 11th in eight games and a 22nd in the league, which leaves him two behind Premiership top goalscorer Kyogo Furuhashi, one of three Celtic players the Motherwell man goes up against in Sunday’s PFA Scotland player of the year awards.

Van Veen is the first Motherwell player to score in eight consecutive top-flight games since the Second World War and the first in Scotland since Craig Dargo for Inverness in 2005-06.

Kettlewell said: “Undoubtedly he catches the headlines, we understand why, eight games in a row he has now scored, but he is very much committed to the cause, which everybody can see.

“He played through an injury and if you’re not committed to the cause then he’s chapping my door telling me he wants to sit at the side.

“It’s just a knock on his foot, it’s not a great issue, but he hasn’t trained an awful lot this week.

“I think everybody could see that wasn’t his best day but he still comes up with another goal.

“He gets the second bite at the penalty, shows unbelievable composure to do what he did with the second effort. That was tremendous.”

Kettlewell, whose side killed off the game in stoppage time, added: “I’m delighted for Mikael Mandron to get his first league goal for us and I thought his efforts deserved it as well.”

The result leaves St Johnstone just three points ahead of the danger zone and manager Steven MacLean bemoaned a lack of quality in the final third after his side failed to test Liam Kelly.

“I thought we just lacked that little bit of quality,” he said. “I thought first half we were the better side and got into good areas and (lacked the) final ball, that wee bit of killer instinct.

“Second half I don’t think we started well enough but they only looked dangerous in transitions and then we concede the penalty.

“Remi saves it and it gets called back by VAR. It is what it is. I think Remi was off his line, the fourth official said that.

“The second goal, we are having a go and trying to get back in the game, I will take that one. But there was nothing in the game – they get the penalty and that changes the game.”

Jim Goodwin lamented a dismal defensive display as his Dundee United side slipped back to the foot of the cinch Premiership with a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of relegation rivals Ross County.

The Tayside outfit started the afternoon in 10th place and ended it two points adrift at the foot of the table with three games to play after being leapfrogged by both the Staggies and Kilmarnock.

A hat-trick of close-range finishes from Jordan White did the damage, and United manager Goodwin was furious with the way the County striker was allowed so much space.

“It was poor defensively, far too easy at times,” he said. “It was the basics, dropping players and not marking on the right side, something we have been good at for weeks.

“It’s really difficult to take because I felt we were making progress, so to defend like that and go back to losing goals like those, it is really disappointing.

“I thought we’d eradicated it but it has raised its ugly head again.

“We have been given credit for the fight, aggression and determination we have showed lately, but I felt the difference between the two teams was in the boxes.

“County man-handled (United striker) Steven Fletcher and were aggressive with him, but in our box Jordan White got too much joy. He dictated to our defenders today and that disappoints me.

“The players have been told it wasn’t acceptable. It’s probably best if I don’t say what was said.

“You can hold your hands up if a team carves you open but those three goals were so avoidable.

“We have put ourselves in a difficult position now with results elsewhere and we’re bottom of the table again.”

County boss Malky Mackay was delighted with the way his side handled the occasion as they set about silencing a bumper crowd of more than 10,000 United fans before climbing off the bottom of the table.

“We knew we had to start fast, knowing there was going to be 10,000 fans and the intensity that could bring for Dundee United,” said Mackay, whose side took the lead after just 38 seconds and then scored two more in the second half after Jamie McGrath’s first-half penalty had levelled things up.

“Coming out it was like the old days at Tannadice, all that tangerine, so it was terrific to see. I told them we have to start well and get the first goal, so we were delighted we did.

“At half-time I asked them to raise the energy levels and give what they gave against Livingston. We got our goals and could have scored another couple.”