Football wrap: Jude Bellingham equals Ronaldo record in Real Madrid's win; AC Milan move to Serie A top

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said nobody expected Jude Bellingham to be so explosive in front of goal after the midfielder hit a brace to send Madrid back top of La Liga on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Osasuna. In Italy, Christian Pulisic helped AC Milan scale to the top of Serie A with a win over Genoa. Girona’s 1-0 win at Cadiz temporarily gave the Catalan minnows a one-point lead in La Liga but Madrid cruised to victory at the Santiago Bernabeu to reclaim first place, with Vinicius Junior and Joselu also scoring in the rout. England international Bellingham, the division’s top scorer with eight goals, was at his unstoppable best once more in the final third. Ancelotti has shifted the former Borussia Dortmund player into a more attacking role, with freedom to move behind two more central strikers and it has paid dividends. After scoring a brilliant solo goal against Napoli in midweek in the Champions League and adding two more against Osasuna, the midfielder now has 10 goals across both competitions in 10 appearances. That was the best scoring start for a new Madrid player since Ronaldo also scored 10 in his first 10 games after his 2009 transfer from Manchester United. Ancelotti deployed defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni alongside Antonio Rudiger at the heart of defence, with David Alaba and Eder Militao injured, and Nacho suspended after his rash tackle last weekend against Girona. However Tchouameni enjoyed a quiet afternoon at the back as Madrid dominated to ensure they will stay top over the international break. Luka Modric, afforded a rare start, helped create the opener by feeding Dani Carvajal who laid the ball off neatly to Bellingham. The midfielder, who had surged into the box, slammed the ball past goalkeeper Sergio Herrera. “I like to visualise the game, I see the pitch, the grass, my playing position… that way I feel calmer,” Bellingham told Real Madrid TV. ‘Top form’ Bellingham started and finished Madrid’s second goal in the 55th minute as Madrid dominated, darting forward and playing a one-two with Fede Valverde, before sweeping home. Fans gave him a standing ovation as he left the pitch, with many singing the chorus of Beatles song “Hey Jude”. “I don’t know how to thank the fans, they’ve welcomed me into this family like one of their own,” added Bellingham.

Beautiful win at the temple! Double figures.🫡 #HalaMadrid 🤍 pic.twitter.com/sfsve6hTCe

— Jude Bellingham (@BellinghamJude) October 7, 2023

Vinicius extended Madrid’s lead, with the Brazilian rounding goalkeeper Herrera and tapping home. The winger turned provider for the fourth goal, setting up Joselu for his fifth league goal in his last six games. Joselu’s sixth should have followed when David Garcia conceded a penalty for handball, but Herrera saved the forward’s effort down the middle. Osasuna’s goalkeeper has a superb penalty-saving record, including stopping two from former Madrid forward Karim Benzema in one match. It did not take the shine off Madrid’s afternoon, as they celebrated their most emphatic win of the season to date. Short-lived lead Aleix Garcia’s tidy strike earned Michel’s Girona, now two points behind Madrid, their narrow victory at Cadiz on Saturday. Cadiz gave themselves an uphill struggle when Darwin Machis was sent off after 10 minutes for a high lunge. The Yellow Submarine still managed to play their part in an end-to-end clash, ultimately decided by Garcia’s strike just before the hour mark. Girona’s playmaker swept home brilliantly from outside the area to put his team ahead against their mid-table opponents. Champions Barcelona, who are third, visit Granada on Sunday. Sevilla snatched a 2-2 draw at home against Rayo Vallecano, with Youssef En-Nesyri heading home in the 96th minute. Valencia prevented Mallorca from earning their first home win of the season with a 1-1 draw. Pulisic inspires AC Milan to top Christian Pulisic fired AC Milan top of Serie A after a 1-0 win at Genoa decided in a wild final few minutes in which Olivier Giroud slipped on his goalkeeping gloves and saved the day. Little had happened at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris until Pulisic struck with three minutes remaining, spinning and slamming home the controversial winning goal which was only given after a long VAR check for a possible handball. The decision to give that goal would eventually lead to a livid Genoa president Alberto Zangrillo alluding to a conspiracy in which the “usual suspects always come out on top”. Pulisic’s fourth Milan goal moved his team two points ahead of Inter thanks to a fourth straight win since last month’s five-goal humiliation suffered at the hands of their local rivals, who could only draw 2-2 with Bologna. His strike also sent the match spiralling into chaos as the home side tried to scramble a point, Mike Maignan shown a straight red card in the seventh minute of stoppage time for charging out of his goal and clattering into Caleb Ekuban. Coach Stefano Pioli had made his fifth substitute moments before so Giroud, who had been brought on in the 66th minute to score a winner, was then tasked with stopping Genoa and immediately watched on helpless as Albert Gudmundsson clipped a free-kick onto the crossbar. “Pulisic wanted to go in goal but we told him he was too short, so Oli got picked to go in,” said Pioli to Sky Sport. With the home crowd baying for blood Genoa’s goalkeeper Josep Martinez came up for the subsequent corner but ending up being sent off himself for a second bookable offence. And Giroud capped an incredible evening by rushing out of his goal to twice to deny Genoa and ensure Milan took the three points back to the San Siro.

I can’t stop watching Oliver Giroud’s save LMAOOO pic.twitter.com/Ktqv4z122L

— 🦅 (@nemaccer) October 7, 2023

When asked what he would do with the goalkeeper’s jersey, he said: “I’m going to frame it!” “I didn’t know if Cala (Hakan Calhanoglu) was going to head me the ball so I said to myself, ‘go’. I don’t have the natural skills of a goalkeeper and I really hurt my arm but that’s OK.” Juve’s derby delight Juventus are four points behind Milan in third after their 2-0 derby victory over struggling Torino. Second-half goals from Federico Gatti and substitute Arkadiusz Milik made sure Juve stayed within sight of Milan and moved three in front of fourth-placed Napoli ahead of the champions’ home clash with Fiorentina on Sunday. “We’re not looking at what other teams are doing, we just want to win every game that we play, that’s the only way to the top… there’s a very long way to go,” said Milik. Juve’s win came without starting centre-forwards Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic, both out injured for the match at the Allianz Stadium in Turin. Chiesa risks missing out on Italy’s two Euro 2024 qualifiers with Malta and England but was selected in the Azzurri squad by coach Luciano Spalletti on Friday. Simone Inzaghi’s Inter looked set to hold on to top spot in Italy when Francesco Acerbi and Lautaro Martinez gave the hosts a commanding lead in the first 13 minutes at the San Siro. But a Riccardo Orsolini penalty six minutes later and Joshua Zirkzee’s fine finish shortly after half-time snatched a draw for Bologna. “I’m angry just as the players are in the dressing room,” said Inzaghi to DAZN. “It’s the second time, after Sassuolo (a 2-1 defeat), that we lead and don’t win because of mistakes and lack of attention which have cost us dearly.” The one positive for Inter was the continued superb form of Argentina forward Martinez, who took his league tally to 10 in eight matches with his rocket of a strike. Monaco down Reims to stay top in Ligue 1 Folarin Balogun and Wissam Ben Yedder scored as Monaco defeated Reims 3-1 on Saturday to keep hold of top spot in Ligue 1 ahead of Cote d’Azur rivals Nice. Ismail Jakobs steered Monaco in front just before half-time and Balogun doubled the lead early with a deflected shot in the second half, refusing to celebrate his goal against the club he played for last season. Ben Yedder headed in a third minutes later for his 150th goal in the French top flight. Teddy Teuma pulled one back from the penalty spot for hosts Reims, who had come into the weekend just a point back of Monaco after a solid start under coach Will Still in his first full season. Hicham Boudaoui struck the only goal as Nice won 1-0 at Metz earlier in the day to keep their unbeaten start intact. The Algeria international turned in a cross at the far post early in the first half to secure the victory for Francesco Farioli’s side, ensuring Nice remain a point adrift of Monaco. Champions Paris Saint-Germain, in fifth, visit Rennes on Sunday after last year’s runners-up Lens host Lille in a derby between the bitter northern rivals. With AFP inputs