Martin Zubimendi's volley from outside the penalty area meant Spain's first home game since winning Euro 2024 was a victorious outing against Denmark in the Uefa Nations League.
13 Oct 2024
The European champions were heading for a frustrating draw until midfielder Zubimendi, who turned down the chance to join Liverpool in the summer, scored in the 79th minute.
Zubimendi beat Kasper Schmeichel with a first-time shot from about 22 yards which took a deflection before hitting the net, the Real Sociedad player's first goal for his country.
Schmeichel will feel he should have done better, but the Denmark goalkeeper had frustrated Spain until that moment with two fine saves to deny captain Alvaro Morata.
The Celtic keeper also kept out a decent attempt by 17-year-old Lamine Yamal before Zubimendi settled it in front of a sell-out crowd in Murcia.
There was a carnival atmosphere inside the ground before kick-off as Spain paraded the European Championship trophy they won by defeating England 2-1 in the final in Berlin on 14 July.
Saturday's victory meant Spain replaced Denmark at the top of Group A4.
Spain, who host Serbia on Tuesday, have seven points while Denmark, who go to Switzerland next, have six.
Chris Wood and Noni Madueke scored as Chelsea and Nottingham Forest played out a tactical and feisty draw at Stamford Bridge.
06 Oct 2024
Forest went ahead when 32-year-old striker Wood slid in a finish past Robert Sanchez after a good set-piece routine involving James Ward-Prowse and Nikola Milenkovic in the 49th minute.
But Chelsea responded quickly as Madueke equalised eight minutes later after cutting in on his left foot and shooting, his fourth such effort having had the beating of left-back Alex Moreno.
Midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White came off injured in the second half - putting his chances of contributing with England this month in major doubt as he gingerly walked off the pitch, looking in pain and frustrated.
Referee Chris Kavanagh sent off Forest's Ward-Prowse for deliberately handling the ball to stop a Nicolas Jackson counter-attack in the second half, giving him a second yellow card, having booked him earlier on for a more conventional tactical foul on star man Cole Palmer.
Then, Madueke also appeared to go off injured after a melee sparked by Neco Williams, who pushed defender Marc Cucurella into Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca.
Chelsea looked to their extensive bench to win the match, bringing on Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk and Pedro Neto to win the game with a man advantage, but Palmer had two chances well saved by Matz Sels and Felix headed an effort wide in stoppage time.
There were two huge efforts saved in the closing minutes.
Williams curling effort for the visitors was saved by Sanchez, before - at the other end - Nkunku's diving header was saved at close range by Sels.
It felt like a close match of two in-form clubs pitting their records against each other, with Chelsea dominant in the latter stages.
The Blues' five-game winning run has ended but they remain unbeaten in the league since the opening match of the season, while Forest are undefeated on the road in six matches, their longest such run since 1995.
Mateo Kovacic scored twice as Manchester City overcame a dogged Fulham to pick up a first Premier League win in three games.
05 Oct 2024
City dominated the early stages before Raul Jimenez's outstanding backheel cross enabled Andreas Pereira to score from close range.
Adama Traore missed two big chances either side of that - being denied by Ederson in a one-on-one and then skying a shot from inside the box.
And City midfielder Kovacic made him pay.
His first was a first-time effort from a half-cleared corner that went in via a deflection.
And his second, shortly into the second half, was a much cleaner strike from the edge of the area.
There was almost a twist, as Traore beat Kyle Walker for pace before again shooting at Ederson.
In fact, City conceded several more chances before Jeremy Doku drifted in from the left and crashed a fantastic strike into the far top corner.
At that stage you thought surely City were home and dry but they left substitute Rodrigo Muniz free in the box to give Fulham renewed hope late on.
But Marco Silva's side could not muster an equaliser.
City are now unbeaten in 50 home games in all competitions, the fourth English top-flight side to ever manage that.
Arsenal came from behind to maintain their unbeaten start to the season against winless Southampton at Emirates Stadium.
05 Oct 2024
Two goals in 10 second-half minutes from Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli ensured the Gunners made a full recovery after being stunned by Cameron Archer's opener for the visitors, before Bukayo Saka confirmed the three points late on.
It meant Arsenal became only the second club in Premier League history to record 400 home wins, and they remain within one point of Premier League pace-setters Liverpool before the international break.
Southampton, who still only have one point after seven games, had struggled amid incessant Arsenal pressure from the outset but, albeit at times unconvincingly, the visitors successfully held out until half-time.
Saints took an unexpected lead 10 minutes after the restart, Archer providing a neat finish on the counter attack after Raheem Sterling, making his first league start for the Gunners, was dispossessed by Mateus Fernandes.
That only served to spark Arsenal into life, however, and the hosts responded just three minutes later when Havertz curved an excellent finish in off the post, before Martinelli timed his run perfectly to meet Saka's cross at the back post.
With Arsenal unable to put the game out of reach, Southampton produced a spirited response but were twice denied by the woodwork when Dibling's effort deflected on to the post and Adam Armstrong hit the crossbar from the resulting corner.
But Saka, provider of his side's first two goals, scored the third in the closing stages with a clinical finish, as Arsenal extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 16 matches.
Liverpool continued their impressive start to the season by securing a sixth successive victory in all competitions with victory at Crystal Palace - but it came at a cost as goalkeeper Alisson went off with an injury.
05 Oct 2024
The early Premier League pacesetters took the three points thanks to Diogo Jota's first-half strike as the Portugal forward capitalised on some poor defending to turn in Cody Gakpo's cross.
But as they closed in on the three points Alisson appeared to suffer a hamstring injury when making a clearance and was replaced by Vitezslav Jaros for the final 10 minutes, with the Czech goalkeeper making his debut.
Liverpool have lost just once in the Premier League so far but Crystal Palace are winless, with this their fourth defeat in seven games.
They had an early Eddie Nketiah strike disallowed for offside, while Ismaila Sarr forced a good save out of Alisson just before the break.
Liverpool's inability to find a second meant that Palace - having been a distant second best for large periods - were always in with a chance of taking something.
Alisson was twice called upon in the second half to make saves, first keeping out Nketiah's shot after the visitors had been caught in possession, and then denying Eberechi Eze.
While the late change in goal was a blow for Liverpool, Palace were unable to truly test Jaros before the final whistle, with Eze firing straight at the goalkeeper after a good break.
The win meant Liverpool moved four points clear at the top of the table before the 15:00 BST games got under way. Palace, meanwhile, remain in the bottom three with three points from seven games.