Betis 5-2 Osasuna: Isco brace restores control

Real Betis beat Osasuna 5-2 in La Liga at La Cartuja on 11 October 2026, with Isco’s second goal ending a spell in which the visitors threatened to overturn a commanding home lead. Manuel Pellegrini’s side had moved three goals clear shortly after half-time, only for Ante Budimir and Raul Garcia de Haro to score in quick succession. Isco restored control before Jose Antonio Morante completed the scoring in added time.

Betis began with possession while Osasuna sat in a low defensive block, and the breakthrough came from Rodrigo Riquelme’s combination with Cucho Hernandez. Riquelme entered the penalty area from the right and contact from Unai Santos brought a penalty, which Isco converted past Aitor Fernandez. The move gave an early reward to the hosts’ patient use of the ball, with Osasuna struggling to turn their response into sustained attacking pressure.

Ez Abde doubled the lead around the half-hour mark, finishing a counterattack that again involved Riquelme and Cucho. Riquelme won possession from Santos, then Cucho sent the ball into space for Abde to run through and beat Fernandez. Isco also had two attempts saved by the Osasuna goalkeeper before the interval. Betis therefore reached half-time with a deserved advantage, having threatened both through their combinations around the box and on the break.

Budimir and Raul Garcia de Haro revive Osasuna

A set-piece move brought Betis’s third goal soon after the restart, with the ball going in amid the contest in Osasuna’s penalty area. It extended the hosts’ first-half command, but the visitors answered almost immediately. Rather than allowing Betis to settle into the second half, Osasuna made the opening stages after the break the most unsettled passage of the match, scoring twice within a short spell to revive the contest.

Budimir supplied the first reply after Betis lost the ball while trying to play out. Hector Bellerin’s loose pass reached Ruben Garcia, and the resulting attack left Budimir able to finish past Alvaro Valles. Osasuna had found a much more productive opening than those available before half-time. Their first goal came not from a prolonged spell of possession, but from taking advantage of a mistake in Betis’s own defensive area.

Raul Garcia de Haro followed with the second, finishing after Catena reached the ball at the far post and supplied him. The two goals exposed Betis in different ways: the first followed a misplaced pass, while the next came from Osasuna reaching a dangerous ball inside the area. The visitors’ finishing had abruptly changed the character of a game in which they had spent much of the first half defending.

The attack that finally interrupted Osasuna’s recovery began with a disputed incident involving Ruben Garcia and Natan. Garcia appealed for a foul following their contact, with Natan the last Betis defender, but play continued and the hosts broke forward. Osasuna protested the action preceding the goal; neither the referee nor VAR upheld their complaint. The decision allowed the attack to count, leaving the visitors’ appeal unresolved in their favour.

Isco’s second goal steadies Betis before Morante’s debut finish

At the other end, a crowded sequence inside the Osasuna area ended with Isco striking left-footed into the upper corner. Riquelme’s attempted contribution had not come off, but Cucho kept the move alive and Isco provided the decisive finish. Unlike his opening penalty, this goal arrived with Betis under pressure from the visitors’ comeback. Its importance lay in stopping that recovery and giving Pellegrini’s side breathing space for the closing stages.

Pellegrini then used his bench to manage the remainder of the match, with Antony offering a further attacking threat after coming on. Morante also entered as a substitute and scored in added time on his La Liga debut. The academy player’s late finish gave the closing minutes a distinct milestone, adding a fifth goal after Isco had already supplied the intervention that steadied Betis following their difficult spell after the restart.

The victory left Betis third with 19 points from eight league matches, maintaining their position after the return from the international break. Their two-goal half-time lead had required reinforcement rather than simply protection, and Isco delivered it before the substitutes helped see out the match. Osasuna’s next league fixture was against Racing de Santander at El Sadar on 18 October, after a visit in which their sharp second-half response ultimately brought no points.