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• Jude Bellingham helps Real Madrid end Girona’s unbeaten start

  Jude Bellingham continued his fairytale start to life at Real Madrid with another starring performance in a 3-0 victory over previously undefeated Girona.

  Bellingham set Real on their way with a superb assist for Joselu’s first-half opener and, after Aurelien Tchouameni had made it 2-0, the England midfielder wrapped things up with his seventh goal for the Spanish giants.

  Real Madrid’s victory, their seventh in eight LaLiga games, saw them return to the top of the table with Girona dropping from second to third.

  The final scoreline was harsh on a Girona side who had recorded six successive wins since their opening-weekend draw at Real Sociedad, but the Catalan underdogs paid the price for not taking their chances.

  Madrid have developed an unwelcome habit of conceding early goals this season and Girona could easily have been 2-0 up inside the opening five minutes.

  Yangel Herrera should have done better with a header which cleared the crossbar before Viktor Tsygankov struck the outside of the post with a far-post header that left flew across the outstretched hand of Kepa Arrizabalaga.

  Real were riding their luck but took the lead in the 18th minute following a moment of magic from Bellingham.

  The summer signing from Borussia Dortmund curled in an inch-perfect cross with the outside of his right foot which picked out Joselu’s run at the far post and the Spain striker’s finish was too powerful for Paulo Gazzaniga to keep out.

  The buoyant visitors were celebrating a second goal barely three minutes later when Tchouameni escaped his marker at a corner to power home a header.

  Girona were suddenly looking shaky at the back and Bellingham almost made it 3-0 in the 28th minute after racing onto Vinicius Jr’s pass, with Gazzaniga denying the 20-year-old.

  Gazzaniga also produced a fine save to tip over Toni Kroos’ effort on the stroke of half-time as Madrid looked to finish their opponents off before the break.

  However, Girona managed to keep the deficit at two goals going into the interval and, like in the first half, they came out all guns blazing at the start of the second and should have pulled a goal back.

  The unmarked David Lopez saw his powerful header from a free-kick parried away by Kepa before Herrera headed another good opportunity down into the ground and over the bar.

  That was as close as Girona would come to getting back into the game, though, and Real wrapped up the points with Bellingham again centre stage.

  The £88.5million man was denied at close range by Gazzaniga just after the hour but there was no stopping the red-hot midfielder in the 71st minute as he made it 3-0 with a clinical finish.

  Joselu saw his shot parried back to him by Gazzaniga and, after the ball looped up into the air off the forward, Bellingham pounced to fire a volley into the ground and past the helpless Girona keeper.

  The hosts would have breathed a sigh of relief at seeing Bellingham substituted soon after, but the damage has been done, although Real’s win was soured following a late red card for Nacho Fernandez.

  The visitors’ captain was initially shown a yellow card for his flying studs-up challenge on Cristian Portu, but that was quickly changed to a red after the referee consulted the pitchside monitor, and a touchline melee involving both teams followed.

• Ali Al-Hamadi’s goalscoring ability was never doubted by Johnnie Jackson

  Johnnie Jackson never doubted the goalscoring capabilities of Ali Al-Hamadi, whose impressive hat-trick proved decisive in AFC Wimbledon’s 4-1 win over Tranmere.

  The Iraqi international bagged his first career treble, leading the charge as AFC Wimbledon came from behind to pick up their first home win of the Sky Bet League Two season and move into the play-off places.

  Prior to Saturday’s contest, Al-Hamadi had found trouble converting his chances and his goal tally for the season sat at just one.

  However, Jackson insisted that it was an inevitability that the 21-year-old would find his shooting boots for Wimbledon.

  Jackson said: “I always said it was coming, but no one said it more than him.

  “No one here was worried about him scoring goals because you’re seeing how well he’s playing, seeing how many chances we’re creating for him as a team, how many he’s creating for himself by his own devilment.

  “We knew they’d come for him. It’s ironic how in one week you get one, and then the next week you go and get your hat-trick.

  “Delight for Ali, it’ll do him the world of good.”

  For Tranmere manager Nigel Adkins, the heroics of Al-Hamadi only brought frustration as his side’s wait for a point on the road this season continues.

  Rovers had snatched an early lead through Connor Jennings, but after Armani Little brought AFC Wimbledon level, it all went wrong for the visitors.

  Defeat leaves Tranmere in the relegation zone, where they started the day, having won only two of their first 10 games this season.

  However, Adkins has nonetheless found encouragement by the start his team made to the game.

  He said: “We started both halves really, really well. The first half especially.

  “Our intensity, our passing, our movement, our identity, our understanding of what we wanted. For the first 20 minutes, it was spot on.

  “And then goals changed the complexion of the game.”

  A key moment of the game came eight minutes after the interval, when Josh Turnbull saw red after a rash challenge on Isaac Ogundere.

  The challenge was right under the nose of Adkins, who understood referee Daniel Middleton’s decision to dismiss Turnbull.

  “It’s a thunderous challenge going in, committed,” Adkins added.

  “We want committed challenges going in, but I think in the climate of today, maybe a follow through is just enough [to be a red card].

  “It’s a fraction harsh, but the referee had a decision to make and we went down to 10 men.”

• Scott Lindsey not taken by surprise as Crawley’s stunning start continues

  Crawley boss Scott Lindsey is not surprised his side are up to second in League Two after they beat rock-bottom Sutton 3-0.

  After suffering their worst campaign since promotion to the EFL last season, there has been a transformation at the Broadfield Stadium and the Reds are now boasting their best start since coming up in 2011.

  An early goal from Adam Campbell sent the hosts on their way and Laurence Maguire and Danilo Orsi added further goals in the second half as Crawley recorded a fourth straight league win.

  “We expect good results because of the work we put in,” Lindsey said.

  “Within the group, we felt we could do what we’ve done.

  “We feel we will always score goals but we do need to be stingier at the back.

  “This was our first clean sheet since the opening day and we have spoken about us needing around 20 over the season so we need to do better.

  “We know that football can kick you in the teeth.

  “So we must remain professional and I will not allow us to get complacent.”

  Sutton manager Matt Gray felt the turning point of the game arrived when Crawley added their second goal from a free-kick which he was convinced should have gone the way of his bottom-of-the-table side.

  “I’m not happy with that as it was a blatant free-kick to us,” Gray said.

  “But we should have taken one of our many chances to go in level or ahead at half-time.”

  Sutton, who lost keeper Dean Bouzanis to a hip injury shortly after the break, have now lost eight of their last nine league games, but Gray is convinced results will soon turn.

  He added: “Over the last two weeks I’ve been pleased with the performances and I was in parts today.

  “A little bit of fortune would be nice. A couple of decisions going for us, and a bit of rub of the green will help turn it.

  “I was disappointed with the second goal today, our disallowed goals and the penalty shouts.

  “We need to make sure we get that result and we can kick on from there.”