Iglesias the difference as Betis edge past Osasuna

With Betis holding an eight-match unbeaten head-to-head run against Osasuna coming into this match, there was surely only going to be one winner.

True to form, Betis dominated the opening stages, albeit without threatening the Osasuna goal in any way, as turning territorial dominance into clear-cut chances was proving to be problematic.

However, Osasuna’s defensive resilience was eventually broken a little over 10 minutes before the break when Iglesias unleashed an absolute rocket into the top corner following some impressive work from Alex Moreno in the build-up.

William Carvalho ought to have doubled Betis’ half-time lead, but as he danced past four challenges in the area, he fired wide with the goal at his mercy.

Despite Betis’ dominance, after the break it was Osasuna who came out firing and came tantalisingly close to finding an equaliser, but as Ruben Pena ghosted into the area, his effort only rippled the side netting.

Besides that solitary chance, goalmouth action was relatively limited for Osasuna, who struggled to find any momentum, though perhaps that wasn’t a surprise having won just two of their last 11 Friday-held fixtures in LaLiga.

Osasuna’s bid for an equaliser was however helped when a horror challenge from Betis’ Pezzella on Manu Sanchez resulted in Manuel Pellegrini’s side going down to ten men.

After the red card, the game was at risk of descending into chaos, with a 52,000 Estadio Benito Villamarin crowd baying for the referee to level the playing field, with several Betis shouts for penalties and red cards alike.

Ultimately, Betis were able to see out the game with the man disadvantage though, extending their 100% winning start to the season and ending Osasuna’s in the process.

Flashscore Man of the Match: William Carvalho (Real Betis)