Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and fellow Hollywood star Hugh Jackman watched Wrexham’s long-awaited English Football League return end in a 5-3 home humbling at the hands of MK Dons.
Saturday’s encounter was an emotional occasion in north Wales as a sell-out crowd watched their side play their first Sky Bet League Two game since 2008.
But Wrexham returned with a bump in front of ambitious owners Reynolds and McElhenney, with the dominant Dons becoming the first side to win at the SToK Racecourse since November 2021.
These sides were two divisions apart just three months ago and the visitors quickly showed their quality, taking a two-goal lead just 10 minutes into Graham Alexander’s first game in charge.
Ben Foster could not prevent Eoghan O’Connell’s own goal or Mohamed Eisa’s excellent solo effort, with Jacob Mendy reducing the deficit just before half-time as Wrexham celebrated a first EFL goal in 5,572 days.
But the start of what manager Phil Parkinson called a “new era” proved a chastening one, with Jonathan Leko drilling home from distance and then beating Foster again as the Dons pulled further ahead.
Wrexham grabbed one back through hometown hero Jordan Davies, before the Dons’ Daniel Harvie and home substitute Anthony Forde completed the scoring in stoppage time.
The hosts were without injured star striker Paul Mullin and new signing James McClean at the Racecourse, where Parkinson’s men looked nervy and went behind in the sixth minute.
O’Connell headed Ethan Robson’s free-kick into his own goal, with MJ Williams soon seeing a shot hit the post before the Dons’ second arrived in the 10th minute.
Eisa showed excellent skill and perseverance before eventually prodding underneath Foster to stun the Racecourse faithful and delight the 1,115 away fans.
Ryan Barnett had cut in to flash a strike over at the other end shortly before, but Wrexham struggled to deal with the two-goal gut punch and created little in the way of clear-cut chances.
Foster did well to stop a Leko effort from the edge of the box as MK Dons pushed for a third, only for Wrexham to reduce the deficit in the 42nd minute.
Billy Waters saw his effort denied by Dons goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray, with Mendy firing home the rebound and restoring hope.
Wrexham looked to kick on when the second half got under way, only to fall further behind to a thumping 51st minute Leko strike as referee Tom Reeves allowed play to continue despite Andy Cannon being left in a heap.
Parkinson made a triple change but his side were soon further behind, with impressive Leko beating the offside trap and then Foster to net his second of the afternoon in the 64th minute.
Substitute Ollie Palmer saw an effort smothered and fellow introduction Davies flashed narrowly over as Wrexham looked to pull one back, with the latter finally burying home a stunner in the 82nd minute.
Wrexham pushed for more and Forde curled home brilliantly in stoppage time, although Harvie had just extended the visitors’ lead as the Dons ran out deserved winners.
Italy win shows 'true face of the France team', says Rabiot
Adrien Rabiot believes Sunday's win over Italy showed "the true face of the France team" as they secured top spot in Nations League Group A2.
The midfielder headed home twice in their 3-1 victory, meeting excellent deliveries from Lucas Digne on both, with his second goal restoring the all-important two-goal cushion that ensured they finished above the Azzurri in the group.
This comes after France had failed to find a way past Israel in a frustrating 0-0 draw last time out.
However, Sunday's victory ensured France will be seeded in the quarter-finals draw as they seem to have put their disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, in which they won just twice as they struggled in front of goal, behind them.
Les Bleus also avenged the 3-1 defeat to Italy on home soil in the reverse fixture, something Rabiot said was playing on their minds while they prepared for their trip to San Siro.
"It's been a long time since we've played a match like this, that we haven't fought in this way all together, until the end," he told TF1.
"We also had the objective of winning with a two-goal difference, we did it. But frankly, the mutual aid that there was in this match, the combativeness, the team spirit, it's to be highlighted. Frankly, we enjoyed playing this match.
"It was a different context [Thursday]. Above all, there was a revenge to be taken compared to the previous match against Italy, who had come to win at home. It's a great evening. I hope we will continue to show this face. It's the true face of the France team."
Digne officially got two assists in the victory, but he also played a big role in France's other goal – his free-kick rattled the crossbar before bouncing in off the unfortunate Guglielmo Vicario.
In fact, France scored three goals from set-pieces in a match for the first time since 1991, when they netted three times from dead-ball situations against Albania.
"[The free-kick is] a technical gesture that is worked on in training. The more you do, the more automatic it becomes, and it pays off," Digne said.
"Offensively, it's not bad at all. As a defender, I would have preferred to finish with a clean sheet, but we can't have everything. We finished first, it's great.
"We had a revenge to take from the first leg, we wanted to show a completely different face. And in addition to our slightly worse match against Israel... We really wanted to show that this jersey is close to our hearts. The whole group was present. It was really a complete match."
France's Nations League quarter-finals will be played in March.
Israel 1-0 Belgium: Shua late show proves decisive
Relegated Israel stunned Belgium 1-0 in their final Nations League game as Yarden Shua's late goal earned them their first win in the competition this season.
The Red Devils, who were without a number of key players for the tie in Hungary, were masters of their own downfall as they gifted Israel the winner with four minutes left on the clock.
In a cagey first half, Eli Dasa breached Belgium's backline 24 minutes in and beat Koen Casteels with a crisp low effort, only to be denied by the foot of the far post.
Casteels was alert just before the break, getting down low to push Dor Peretz's low drive away from the bottom corner.
Domenico Tedesco's half-time team talk looked to have buoyed his side as they upped the pressure, with Lois Openda hitting the side netting before Johan Bakayoko forced a fingertip save out of Daniel Peretz just after the hour.
However, in their rush to find a winner, Belgium were caught playing out from the back. Dor Peretz latched onto Matte Smets' loose backpass, and though he was bundled over in the box, Shua coolly picked out the bottom corner.
Israel finish bottom of Group A2 and are automatically relegated to League B, while Belgium sit above them due to a superior goal difference in their head-to-head record –they now have a relegation play-off to overcome.
Data Debrief: Tough times for Tedesco
It has been a Nations League campaign to forget for Belgium, who managed just one win and finished with a whimper as they went winless in their final four matches (D1 L3).
They just edged the shot count in Budapest, having 12 attempts to Israel's 10, but without the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne to call on, they lacked a clinical edge.
While Belgium struggled in attack, their defensive struggles will also be a worry for Tedesco. They failed to win any of the four games in which they fell behind in the group, earning just one point from a losing position.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
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