Eddie Nketiah dedicated his first Premier League hat-trick to his recently deceased aunt after his treble sank Sheffield United.

The newly-capped England striker put the Blades to the sword, scoring the opening three goals before a Fabio Vieira penalty and a first Arsenal strike for Takehiro Tomiyasu wrapped up a convincing 5-0 win.

The result takes the Gunners two points off the top of the table, with Mikel Arteta’s side unbeaten in their first 10 league games of the campaign.

Nketiah, who has started eight of those matches, had not scored since August but topped a special day by finishing the game wearing the captain’s armband.

“To do it at Emirates Stadium, in the Premier League, in front of my family and friends is an amazing feeling,” the 24-year-old said of his hat-trick.

“I lost my aunt not too long ago and I just want to dedicate that to her and her family.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dreamt of this moment – to get three goals in a Premier League match.

“I’m a childhood supporter of the club, so to do it in front of the fans, my friends, my family and my teammates is an amazing feeling. It’s a day I’ll remember forever.”

There could another goal for Nketiah after he picked the ball up to take a late penalty, given after a lengthy VAR check for a foul on substitute Vieira.

Instead, the Portugal midfielder asked to take the spot-kick himself to mark a special moment in his life.

“I was going to take it – I wanted to take it,” explained Nketiah.

“I always want to get more goals. Fabio came to me and he wanted to take it. He won the penalty as well. He’s expecting a little one and it was a really good moment for him to get on the scoresheet and dedicate it.

“I’m a team player – I’d scored a hat-trick and I could allow other players to get in on the act. He took the penalty and scored, so we’re happy.”

Captain Oliver Norwood conceded the penalty as Sheffield United slumped to another defeat that leaves them bottom of the table and with just one point from 10 games.

He was bullish when asked about the performance in north London.

“It is very disappointing,” he said.

“We go in at half-time 1-0 down. Second half it’s difficult to really come and speak and say too much other than it’s not acceptable to keep losing the way that we are.

“It is easy to stand and say ‘we stick together through the hard times’, it’s easy to say that, but now we’ve got to show it.

“We’ve got to really dig in, have a look in the mirror at ourselves individually, because it’s not good enough.”

Liverpool have confirmed an “ongoing situation involving the family of Luis Diaz” amid reports the forward’s parents were kidnapped in Colombia.

Colombia’s president has said Diaz’s mother “has been rescued” but his father remains missing.

“Liverpool Football Club can confirm it is aware of an ongoing situation involving the family of Luis Diaz in Colombia,” read a club statement.

“It is our fervent hope that the matter is resolved safely and at the earliest possible opportunity. In the meantime, the player’s welfare will continue to be our immediate priority.”

Colombia president Gustavo Petro said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “In an operation in Barrancas, Luis Diaz’s mother has been rescued, we continue the search for the father.”

The country’s football federation said in a statement that the kidnapping was regrettable and urged authorities to rescue Diaz’s father.

“The Colombian Football Federation rejects the security situation that the parents of our player Luis Díaz are going through,” they said.

“From the FCF we express our solidarity with him and his entire family and we call for the relevant authorities to act as quickly as possible to resolve the situation.”

Liverpool signed Diaz from Porto in January 2022 in an initial £37.5million deal that included a potential extra £12.5million in add-ons.

The 26-year-old winger has made 11 appearances this season and scored three goals.

Diaz did not feature in Liverpool’s 5-1 Europa League victory over Toulouse on Thursday but had been expected to return for Nottingham Forest’s Premier League visit to Anfield on Sunday.

Last year’s beaten finalists St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) and Kingston College secured an advantage over Kingston Technical and Campion College, as they registered contrasting victories in their respective first leg second round ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup fixtures at Jamaica College on Saturday.

STATHS with a clinical second half display, blanked Kingston Technical 4-0, courtesy of a brace from Richard Livingston (58th and 81st), with Leon Brown (58th) and Alexavier Gooden (88th), getting the others.

Kingston College had things much more difficult and had to come from behind to edge Campion College 3-2 in the feature contest of the double-header.

Tyler Falconer (21st) and Djas Less (25th) gave Campion a handy lead, but Demario Dailey (59th), O’Neil Bryan (83rd) and Robert Seow (90+3), responded for Kingston College.

After playing out a goalless first half in the curtain raiser, STATHS came to life on the resumption and found the go-ahead goal 13 minutes in when Livingston converted from the 12-yard spot, after Brown was felled by goalkeeper Jahiem Orr.

The Bumper Hall-based school continued to press and doubled the lead through Brown, who was on hand to slam home a loose ball from close range, his 14^th goal of the season.

With Kingston Technical offering very little resistance, particularly in the latter stages, scoring got easier for STATHS and Livingston helped himself to another, as he skipped a defender and drove home a right-footed effort from just inside the 18-yard box.

Gooden then capped the win with a fine header that gave Orr no chance at a save.

The second contest between Campion College and Kingston College, was expected to be more competitive and lived up to its billing.

Campion took the lead against the run of play when a poor clearance by goalkeeper Malique Williams, went straight to Falconer, who made no mistakes.

Another poor attempt by Williams to gather the ball, allowed Less to tap the ball in at the far post, almost hurting himself in the process when he slammed into the upright.

Though down, Kingston College was not out, and they again found some momentum in the latter stages of the first half, and they maintained it after the break.

The North Street-based team made it count a minute to the hour mark through Dailey, who finished off an Otaivian Halloway pass with aplomb.

With that goal literally knocking the wind from Campion College’s sails, Kingston College went for broke, and Bryan put them back on level terms with a tidy finish from deep inside the 18-yard box.

Seow completed the comeback befitting of their motto “the brave may fall, but never yield,” with an easy tap in at the far post.

Winning coach Vassell Reynolds praised his team for the win.

“It was a tough one, we gave up two soft goals but it’s a part of the game. We asked the guys at half-time to dig in and in the end, fitness spoke, and we got three goals. It is a young and experience team, but we have asked them from the start of the season to always fight in a way that is of a Kingston College spirit, and they did that, so I am very proud of them,” Reynolds said in a post-game interview.

His counterpart Ashton Blankson also lauded his team but felt they were undone by a lack of fitness.

“I thought they got a little tired and the heads dropped, but we fought all the way to the end. We want to go back to playing our game which is the passing game, and we will see what happens (in the second leg) on Wednesday,” Blankson noted.

Saturday’s results

St Catherine 2, Wolmer’s Boys 0

Excelsior 0, Hydel 0

Jamaica College 3, Eltham 0

Mona 3, Jonathan Grant 0

Kingston College 3, Campion College 2

STATHS 4, Kingston Technical 0

St George’s College 2, St Jago 0

Haile Selassie 0, Tivoli High 0

Interim Reggae Girlz Head coach Xavier Gilbert is hoping his makeshift team can bounce back quickly to not only take three points off Guatemala, but more importantly, put themselves in a much better position to top the qualifying group on their way to next year’s Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup.

The Girlz, who went down 1-2 away to Panama, are currently at the foot of the three-team Group B in League A of the qualifiers, but a win against Guatemala at the National Stadium on Sunday, would see them back in contention for the coveted top spot.

This, as Panama currently lead with six points from three games, followed by Guatemala with three points from two games, while the Girlz will be contesting their second fixture to be followed by the return leg encounters on November 29 and December 3 respectively.

Sunday’s game is scheduled for 5:00pm.

“I think the ladies can bounce back, but it is going to be a tough encounter similar to what we experienced against Panama. I think the ladies are in a much better place after getting the first game out of the way and we managed to get an extra session in with everybody so that was good,” Gilbert told SportsMax.TV.

“The spirits are high, so we just have to come out and execute. As I said before, it is going to be tough, and we are mindful that they (Guatemala) beat Panama before Panama defeated them. We know that they like to shoot from different areas, and I think offensively they are strong, so we just have to nullify their strengths,” he added.

Reflecting on the first game, Gilbert was encouraged by his team’s display for the most part, given the fact that they were pulled together only a few days prior to that game.

In fact, had it not been for an own-goal and a defensive error by Alika Keene in either half of the contest, Gilbert’s makeshift side would have pulled off a highly unexpected win.

“When you look back at the first game against Panama, they really didn’t break us down to score and unfortunately, we didn’t come away with anything because of the own-goal and defensive error. But we have Marlo Sweatman coming in for this game and with her experience in the middle of the park, I think we should give a much better performance on this occasion,” the tactician noted.

Marlo Sweatman, who didn’t make the trip to Panama, joined the team’s training session on Friday. She along with fellow 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup veteran Chinyelu Asher, are expected to do most of the work in the midfield, both from an attacking and defensive perspective.

Sweatman, 28, who currently plays professionally in Hungary, is eager to ply her part in the makeshift Girlz resurgence.

"I am very happy to be here. I have been playing attacking midfield and scoring a lot of goals, and I feel like I am in good form,” she said.

“This is a very young team, and so I will bring in a lot of experience and some leadership, especially in the midfield, as well as off the field, to help them grow as players and as people off the field as well,” Sweatman shared.

Jude Bellingham scored twice as Real Madrid took El Clasico honours with a 2-1 win at Barcelona.

The England midfielder struck with a 30-yard drive to cancel out Ilkay Gundogan’s early goal for the hosts.

Bellingham then volleyed a stoppage-time winner to take his goal tally to 13 in 13 appearances since moving to Madrid from Borussia Dortmund.

Goals from Lucas Ocampos and Ivan Rakitic saw Sevilla come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in Cadiz, Las Palmas won 2-1 at Almeria and Mallorca were held 0-0 at home by Getafe.

In the Bundesliga, Harry Kane scored a hat-trick – including a goal from inside his own half – as Bayern Munich thumped Darmstadt 8-0.

Joshua Kimmich was sent off after just four minutes, but red cards for Klaus Gjasula and Matej Maglica ensured the hosts had the man advantage at the break after a goalless first half.

Kane’s second goal was a magnificent effort from four yards behind the halfway line. Jamal Musiala and Leroy Sane scored two apiece and Thomas Muller was also on target.

Bayern moved to the top of the table after Stuttgart slipped up 3-2 at home to Hoffenheim.

Borussia Monchengladbach beat Heidenheim 2-1, Augsburg were 3-2 winners at home to Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen sank Union Berlin 2-0 and Leipzig thumped Cologne 5-0.

Andrea Cambiaso struck with virtually the last kick of the game as Juventus climbed to the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win over Verona.

Moise Kean had earlier seen two goals disallowed by VAR as Verona chased an unlikely point in their battle against relegation.

But Verona have never won away at Juventus in Serie A history, and that record now stands at 33 matches, following a heartbreaking defeat.

In the seventh minute of stoppage time, Arkadiusz Milik’s header came back off the inside of the far post and Cambiaso smashed in the rebound.

Alessandro Buongiorno goal just before half-time gave Torino a 1-0 win at Lecce, while Sassuolo drew 1-1 at home to Bologna

In France, two penalties from Florian Sotoca helped Lens to a 4-0 win over Nantes and Reims beat Lorient 1-0.

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City gatecrashing the established elite is “uncomfortable” for their Premier League rivals.

Famously labelled Manchester United’s ‘noisy neighbours’ by Sir Alex Ferguson, City’s takeover by their Abu Dhabi owners in 2008 and then the appointment of Guardiola as manager in 2016 have led to gradual progress from insignificant upstarts to the dominant force in English football.

City have lifted the Premier League trophy in five of the last six campaigns, including three in a row, while their crowning moment came last season as they emulated Ferguson’s 1998-99 treble-winning side.

Guardiola marvelled at how the fortunes of the clubs have switched ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford, where City could extend their lead between the teams to nine points with a victory.

“Sir Alex was right (at the time), City were not challenging, they were in the middle to bottom,” Guardiola said. “United and Arsenal at the time were the richest ones, that’s why City were there.

“But after that, Sheikh Mansour and Khaldoon (Al Mubarak), who took over and made an investment. After that Sir Alex could not expect to know that and not even myself who was in Barcelona.

“We were not in the elite and now we are in the elite, maybe it’s uncomfortable for many things. That is a reality and we want to stay as long as possible.”

United have not won the league since Ferguson’s departure at the end of the 2012-13 season, coming closest under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, both of whom presided over runners-up finishes.

While Guardiola was adamant United will always be regarded as one of the top English clubs, the Spaniard suspects any chance of bringing back the glory days the red half of Manchester enjoyed under Ferguson is gone because of the number of sides now challenging for honours.

Such has been the trajectories of both clubs over the last decade, Guardiola admitted he does not consider United their biggest rivals – insisting that honour belongs to Liverpool.

Asked if United can dominate again, Guardiola responded: “Maybe not in the way that Sir Alex Ferguson did because back then there were just two or three teams, now there are more with a lot of incredible managers.

“Maybe not in that way but if they take good decisions, with the hierarchy, with the sports director, with the managers, with the players and the same ideas, Manchester United when something happens is in the highlights all day.

“The reputation and the prestige they have is always there. It just needs to click.

“There was one year with Ole that was close. But Liverpool have been our biggest rivals – they made us challenge higher and higher and helped make us a better team in all departments. They challenged us like no other team has done before.”

Erik ten Hag led United to third place last season, as well as winning the Carabao Cup and finishing runners-up to City in the FA Cup final, but they have fluctuated in this campaign with four losses in nine games.

Guardiola pointed out it took him a while before finding sustained success with City, having finished third in his first season in charge in 2016-17.

“It takes time,” Guardiola added. “United is able to win four, five six games in a row. If they do that they will be on top.

“Leave the manager to do the job that here they allowed me to do in my first season when we didn’t win. Give time to the managers and they will do it.”

Andrea Cambiaso struck with virtually the last kick of the game as Juventus climbed to the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win over Hellas Verona.

Moise Kean had earlier seen two goals disallowed by VAR as Verona chased an unlikely point in their battle against relegation.

Verona have never won away at Juventus in Serie A history and that record now stands at 33 matches, following a heartbreaking defeat.

Juve thought they had taken the lead in the 13th minute when Kean, after 10 league games without a goal, spun his marker 25 yards out and launched an unstoppable drive past Lorenzo Montipo.

But the VAR took the play back to when Kean originally collected the ball before turning back on himself and adjudged him fractionally offside.

Kean was denied again moments later when his header from Manuel Locatelli’s corner was tipped over by Montipo.

The Italy striker, still aggrieved at having his goal ruled out, beat another couple of challenges on the edge of the box but, having been forced wide, he lashed his shot off target.

Verona weathered the storm and fashioned a couple of half chances, but Michael Folorunsho and Milan Djuric fired wide while Wojciech Szczesny saved from Federico Bonazzoli just before the break.

Kean squandered another presentable chance early in the second half when he planted a free header wide.

His frustration grew to boiling point when he glanced a superb header home after a sweeping Juve attack, only for VAR to haul it back for a foul by the forward in the build-up.

The 23-year-old was promptly booked for hurling the ball away after another decision went against him.

An 11th match without a goal came to an end on the hour when Kean was replaced by Federico Chiesa.

The substitute was immediately in the thick of the action, forcing Montipo to acrobatically tip his shot over the top.

Chiesa had his head in his hands moments later when he received a cut-back from the byline, only to see his first-time shot from 10 yards cleared off the line by Davide Faraoni.

Federico Gatti tried his luck from 25 yards, but his fierce drive flew wide and teenage substitute Kenan Yildiz lifted a glorious chance too.

But Juve’s moment came at the end of six minutes of stoppage time when Arkadiusz Milik’s header came back off the inside of the far post and Cambiaso smashed in the rebound.

Reggae Boyz winger Demarai Gray scored the winner as Al-Ettifaq secured a 3-2 victory over Al-Wehda in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday.

Dutch former Liverpool and Newcastle midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum gave Al-Ettifaq the lead in the 18^th minute before Craig Goodwin equalized for Al-Wehda in the 37^th minute to ensure the teams went into halftime locked at 1-1.

Six minutes after the restart, Goodwin got his second to give Al-Wehda a 2-1 lead. With nine minutes left, Wijnaldum got Al-Ettifaq’s equalizer.

The game seemed to be heading for a draw before, in the eighth minute of added time, Gray cut inside on his right foot and unleashed a fierce strike from just outside the box into the bottom left corner of the goal to give Al-Ettifaq the 3-2 win.

Al-Ettifaq are now seventh in the league standings with 20 points from 11 games.

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil called the decision to award Newcastle a first-half penalty in their 2-2 draw at Molineux “scandalous”.

O’Neil was delighted by the way his players battled back, twice coming from a goal down to earn an impressive point through Hwang Hee-chan’s equaliser, but Wolves were once again left fuming at the officials on a busy afternoon for referee Anthony Taylor and VAR Jarred Gillett.

The game was at 1-1, with Mario Lemina’s first Wolves goal cancelling out Callum Wilson’s opener, when Taylor pointed to the spot on the stroke of half-time.

Hwang had been guilty of a heavy touch inside his own box, inviting Fabian Schar to challenge for the ball, but the Newcastle man appeared to kick the turf and looked to already be on his way down before any contact.

There was a lengthy VAR check but the on-field decision stood, and Wilson kept his cool to put Newcastle back in front.

“It was a scandalous decision,” O’Neil said. “It was a terrible on-field decision, and terrible that VAR didn’t intervene so I thought they got it badly wrong.

“(Hwang) has a big touch…and then goes to clear the ball. He makes such minimal contact with Schar, hardly any, a glance of the boot.

“Schar’s is already on the way down and the ball actually hits ‘Channy’ on the other foot before he even makes contact with Schar so technically he gets the ball before he makes contact with Schar, so that’s why it’s a terrible decision.”

Wolves seemed to use their sense of injustice as fuel in the second half, and it was fitting that Hwang got the equaliser with his seventh goal of the season.

“There’s never any question marks from me on his mentality, his willingness to work, his ability to refocus and get going again,” O’Neil said of the Korean.

“Obviously he’s a threat, obviously his goalscoring this season for us has been a big plus and he gets another important one today.”

The draw extends Wolves’ unbeaten run to five games, and O’Neil said: “I’m really pleased with the group. We suffered some setbacks and I think everyone could be proud of their work-rate, the quality and the resilience.”

Eddie Howe was frustrated that Newcastle, playing for the first time since Sandro Tonali started a 10-month ban for betting offences, could not hold on for a win having twice led, but was happy with how they finished the match despite fatigue creeping in after Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

“It was probably a fair result,” he said. “Two good teams. It was a really good spectacle. It’s frustrating having led not to get over the line and win the game but it was a really impressive end when the home crowd is up.

“We’ve had a tough week with the Sandro situation and injuries to key players but it was a really good response.”

Wilson’s brace, including an acrobatic opener to tidy up his own rebound, took him to seven goals from nine appearances, encouraging news for Howe with Alexander Isak facing a spell on the sidelines.

“It was a massive contribution from Callum,” Howe said. “His first goal was hugely impressive, the first chance was the easier than the second but that’s typical Callum.

“He took the penalty well and was probably frustrated he didn’t get the match ball with a chance at the end, but they were priceless goals for us.”

QPR have sacked manager Gareth Ainsworth following defeat to Sky Bet Championship leaders Leicester on Saturday.

Goalscorer Andre Dozzell was sent off before Harry Winks inflicted a sixth straight loss which spelled the end of former Rangers midfielder Ainsworth’s reign.

CEO Lee Hoos told the club’s website: “Making a call such as this is never easy. Many supporters have told me in recent months that they have never wanted someone to succeed more than Gareth, which is an indication of the fondness everyone associated with QPR has for him.

“Unfortunately, results this season haven’t gone the way we all wanted and we feel a change is necessary.

“Gareth has been a pleasure to work with from the moment he arrived and I am truly sorry this has not worked out as we all had hoped.”

After Stephy Mavididi opened the scoring on the half-hour, Dozzell equalised shortly before the interval – but the midfielder was dismissed early in the second half for two quick cautions.

Abdul Fatawu reacted angrily to a challenge from Dozzell, who raised a hand towards the Leicester winger and was shown a first yellow card for the foul followed swiftly by another for the retaliation.

Rangers battled hard but Leicester made their numerical advantage count with 10 minutes left when Winks rifled in a right-footed strike for his first goal since moving from Tottenham.

Speaking before his departure, Ainsworth bemoaned his side’s “naivety” after they had a man sent off for the second successive match.

It came after Jimmy Dunne was dismissed during the midweek defeat at West Brom, also for picking up two yellow cards in quick succession.

“Naivety has cost us again. It’s cost us over the past two games,” Ainsworth said.

“Out of the four bookings that have cost us two red cards, I think there’s only one legitimate foul in there and the rest has been just stupidity.

“Andre has reacted just as Fatawu wanted him to. The referee has no choice but to give a second yellow.

“We had a plan put in place that I think was working, but again you need 11 men, especially against the top-of-the-league team.

“I thought there were some superb performances for us. There wasn’t much in the game at all until Andre falls for the trick of gamesmanship from Fatawu.

“Andre has to learn from that. It was always going to be tough after that. It still took a world-class goal to beat us.”

Leicester boss Enzo Maresca insisted there must be no let-up from his side after they maintained their commanding lead at the top of the table.

The Foxes are five points clear of second-placed Ipswich and 14 clear of Leeds, seemingly on course for an immediate return to the top flight in Maresca’s first season at the helm.

The Italian coach, though, warned against any sense of complacency.

“We have just one problem: we are still in October. I would like to still be in the same position in February, March and April,” he said.

“You can lose a game for many reasons, but for sure you can lose a game if you have a drop in intensity. We know that because we always mention that.

“As long as we remain with the same intensity then we can win more games than we lose.

“But the players deserve it. The way they work on the ball and off the ball, they make an unbelievable effort. They are open-minded and fantastic.”

Jude Bellingham admitted he had done something great after almost single-handedly winning his first El Clasico for Real Madrid.

The England midfielder scored a stunning equaliser and dramatic stoppage-time clincher as Real came from behind to beat arch-rivals Barcelona 2-1 at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium on Saturday.

It continued Bellingham’s extraordinary start as a Real Madrid player, with the 20-year-old having now scored 13 goals in as many appearances for Los Blancos.

Bellingham told the club’s website: “I had watched many Clasicos from the sofa with my family and I told them that today it was my turn to live it first-hand and do something great. I’ve done that and I’m very happy.”

Real trailed at half-time to an early Ilkay Gundogan strike and Bellingham conceded he had not been at his best.

Such is his confidence, however, that he only had one thing on his mind when a shooting opportunity opened up 25 yards out with 68 minutes gone.

He duly lashed home a fine equaliser and he was not done there, volleying in from close range in the dying moments.

He said: “I wasn’t at my best. Sometimes it’s not about trying to do something special every time you have the ball, but to combine with those up top.

“I fulfilled that task well but as soon as I got the ball there I knew I was going to score.

“I got the ball on the edge of the box. I’ve been saying for a few weeks that I need to try from outside.

“Maybe the opponents expect me to try to get into the box or combine with a team-mate and I wanted to surprise them by hitting it from outside the box.

“I know I have the technique and it went into the top corner.”

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, whose side moved back to the top of LaLiga with the win, has been stunned by the impact Bellingham has had.

He said: “We’re all surprised at the level he’s at, especially in terms of how effective he’s been. He could easily score 20 or 25 goals.

“He looks like a veteran. His attitude is very good. He’s the player who has made the biggest difference.”

Hwang Hee-chan’s seventh goal of the season earned Wolves a point as they twice came from behind in a 2-2 draw at home against Newcastle.

Callum Wilson scored a first-half brace for the visitors, including a controversial penalty, to move on to seven goals from just nine Premier League appearances but it was not enough against a determined Wolves side who seemed to take inspiration from a sense of injustice in a feisty second half.

Wilson, starting in place of the injured Alexander Isak, acrobatically capitalised on a Jose Sa error to put Newcastle in front 22 minutes in but Mario Lemina, back in the Wolves side after suspension, headed the hosts level with his first goal in old gold 14 minutes later.

Wolves then fumed when Anthony Taylor pointed to the post on the stroke of half-time, with minimal apparent contact when Hwang was guilty of a loose touch in his own box and Fabian Schar went down as he stepped in to take possession.

Wilson kept his cool through a lengthy VAR check and ignored the jeers to put Newcastle back in front despite Sa getting a strong hand to the spot-kick, but Hwang would make amends in the 71st minute with an equaliser that extends Wolves’ unbeaten run to five.

Newcastle made the trip south coming off a 1-0 Champions League home defeat to Borussia Dortmund and still reeling from the loss of Sandro Tonali, serving the first game of a 10-month ban for betting offences.

They were inches away from an early opener when Joelinton dropped deep to receive Kieran Trippier’s pass and feed Sean Longstaff who hesitated on a cross and instead slipped a low shot narrowly wide.

But Wolves, who had won only two of their previous 16 Premier League matches against the Magpies, were applying pressure of their own with some confident play, yet struggling to test Nick Pope.

It was almost against the run of play that Wilson put Newcastle in front in the 22nd minute. Sa came but failed to collect Anthony Gordon’s cross, colliding with Boubacar Traore, and though Wilson’s first shot was blocked by Toti the ball bounced up and Wilson turned it home.

Wolves responded well, with Cunha twice denied before Pedro Neto cut inside and forced Pope to push his shot over. The hosts levelled from the resulting corner as Lemina got the right side of Trippier at the far post to head in Neto’s delivery.

But Newcastle were awarded a contentious penalty on the stroke of half-time, with Schar appearing to kick the turf as he tumbled over when challenging Hwang.

Contact looked minimal and there was a lengthy check from VAR Jarred Gillett before Taylor’s decision was upheld and Wilson restored Newcastle’s lead.

Wolves were screaming for a spot-kick of their own in first-half stoppage time after Pope came out of his box and failed to gather, but there was only the slightest graze of the ball against the fingers of Bruno Guimaraes as he challenged Cunha.

Wolverhampton blood pressures continued to rise early in the second half as a string of decisions went Newcastle’s way and the game became scrappy.

The home fans wanted a red card when Lascelles stopped the run of Hwang as he tried to go through on goal, but Taylor deemed a yellow sufficient.

That frustration was relieved in the 71st minute when Hwang made up for conceding the penalty with a fine equaliser, played in by Toti and leaving Dan Burn in a heap before rifling home.

Neto powered forward again in the 74th minute but just as he looked ready to pull the trigger he pulled up holding his hamstring, and neither side could find a winner at a damp Molineux.

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho felt he saw the worst and the best from his side as they recovered from a terrible start to fight back and secure a hard-earned 3-2 win at struggling Reading.

Protests from the home fans – with around 2,000 supporters also staging a pre-match protest march against Chinese owner Dai Yongge – saw the game paused twice after tennis balls were thrown onto the pitch before the Royals took a shock 2-0 lead through quick goals from Lewis Wing and Charlie Savage.

Pompey, though, fought their way back on to level terms before the break through on-loan Chelsea midfielder Tino Anjorin and Colby Bishop.

Terry Devlin then slotted in the winner early in the second start to extend Pompey’s unbeaten start.

“I was really disappointed by the way that we played for 25 to 30 minutes,” Mousinho said.

“But even at 2-0 down, I was still quite positive of getting back into the game. We then proved that with 15 minutes-worth of very good football.

“The (tennis ball) protests impacted the flow of the game, but Reading had to deal with that as well. They just got on with it.

“For us, it was really Jekyll and Hyde in that first half. To start off, with what we have put together collectively, we were an unrecognisable team.

“But once we had taken that kick in the face (of Reading’s goals), we were excellent.”

After the final whistle, Reading substitute Amadou Mbengue received a red card following a skirmish between both sets of players.

Reading slipped to the bottom of the table as their winless run stretched to seven matches.

“We were just not able to keep the lead,” said Reading manager Ruben Selles said.

“And at 2-1, we had an amazing opportunity to make it 3-1, but that has been happening so often to us lately.

“We don’t put the ball in the net and the next one is coming against us.

“The performance was there, we were competitive against one of the best teams in the league, but we need to be more robust and more ruthless.”

Leicester boss Enzo Maresca insisted there must be no let-up from his side after a 2-1 win at QPR maintained their commanding lead at the top of the Sky Bet Championship.

The Foxes are five points clear of second-placed Ipswich and 14 clear of Leeds, seemingly on course for an immediate return to the top flight in Maresca’s first season at the helm.

The Italian coach, though, warned against any sense of complacency.

“We have just one problem: we are still in October. I would like to still be in the same position in February, March and April,” he said.

“You can lose a game for many reasons, but for sure you can lose a game if you have a drop in intensity. We know that because we always mention that.

“If you come here, against this team, after their five (defeats) in a row, and you drop a little bit in terms of intensity, then they will beat us for sure.

“As long as we remain with the same intensity then we can win more games than we lose.

“But the players deserve it. The way they work on the ball and off the ball, they make an unbelievable effort. They are open-minded and fantastic.”

After Stephy Mavididi opened the scoring on the half-hour, Andre Dozzell equalised shortly before the interval – but the midfielder was dismissed early in the second half for two quick cautions following a foul and his reaction.

Rangers, who have lost six matches in a row and remain one off the bottom of the table, battled hard.

Leicester, though, made their numerical advantage count with 10 minutes left when Harry Winks rifled in a right-footed strike for his first goal since moving from Tottenham.

QPR boss Gareth Ainsworth bemoaned his side’s “naivety” after they had a man sent off for the second successive match.

Abdul Fatawu reacted angrily to a challenge from Dozzell, who raised a hand towards the Leicester winger and was shown a first yellow card for the foul followed swiftly by another for the retaliation.

It came after Jimmy Dunne was dismissed during the midweek defeat at West Brom, also for picking up two yellow cards in quick succession.

“Naivety has cost us again. It’s cost us over the past two games,” Ainsworth said.

“Out of the four bookings that have cost us two red cards, I think there’s only one legitimate foul in there and the rest has been just stupidity.

“Andre has reacted just as Fatawu wanted him to. The referee has no choice but to give a second yellow.

“We had a plan put in place that I think was working, but again you need 11 men, especially against the top-of-the-league team.

“I thought there were some superb performances for us. There wasn’t much in the game at all until Andre falls for the trick of gamesmanship from Fatawu.

“Andre has to learn from that. It was always going to be tough after that. It still took a world-class goal to beat us.”

Rangers’ spirited performance perhaps eased the pressure on Ainsworth, who remains convinced they will avoid relegation.

However, a defeat away to fellow strugglers Rotherham next weekend would put further focus on his future.

“I am proud of that performance. I can hold my head up high and say we gave absolutely everything,” Ainsworth said.

“As long as that keeps happening we’ll amass enough points to stay in this division.”

Darren Ferguson was relieved to survive an “unprofessional” second-half wobble as his side held off a fightback from 10-man Blackpool to win 4-2 at Bloomfield Road.

Posh appeared to be cruising as goals from Kwame Poku, Harrison Burrows and Ricky-Jade Jones put them 3-0 up inside an hour against a home side who had Oliver Casey dismissed shortly after the restart.

But the hosts scored twice in the space of four minutes through Kenny Dougall’s header and Sonny Carey, who was first to the rebound when Nicholas Bilokapic parried James Husband’s shot to set up a grandstand finish.

It needed a stoppage-time strike from Ephron Mason-Clark, who had earlier missed a penalty, to make the points safe and Ferguson was left to reflect on a mixed performance.

“We were excellent for 60 minutes and we stuck to the game plan,” he said.

“We were very good and we were dominant. But even at 2-0 we got sloppy, and then a great third goal and you’re thinking ‘game over, just manage it. Can we put a real statement out and put them to the sword?’.

“Then 15 minutes later, we’re hanging on. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. We were all over the place and it was just unprofessional.

“We managed to see it through and a good counter-attack and a great finish by Ephron. Any time you come here and you win, it’s a great result because these will be in the top six, I’m absolutely certain of that.

“We’ve now gone to Bolton away, Barnsley away, these away, Portsmouth away; a lot of teams that will probably end up in the top six, I think, and we’ve come out pretty unscathed.”

Posh climbed to fourth following their victory while Blackpool sit seventh, three points outside the Sky Bet League One play-off places.

Tangerines boss Neil Critchley had nothing but praise for the way his side battled back into the contest.

“I’m proud of a team that’s given absolutely everything in really difficult circumstances,” he said.

“If you’re going to lose a game of football, then lose like that.

“I’m disappointed to lose, obviously. I think we could have started the game better, I thought we were a little bit tentative, which was not the message before the game, but I thought we grew into it.

“Our response to going 3-0 down was magnificent, unbelievable. The players gave absolutely everything. At 3-2, we had them, we felt we could get something out of the game at that moment in time.

“You could see tiredness towards the end and we made a mistake and they scored. So much happened during the game. Even though we’ve lost, I’m still very positive about what I saw in the second half, especially.”