Isco shines as five-star Betis fend off Osasuna to go third in LaLiga

Targeting a 15th LaLiga game unbeaten, Betis wasted virtually no time in asserting their authority, going ahead via the penalty spot just 10 minutes into proceedings.

Unai Santos was the guilty party, when he carelessly caught Rodrigo Riquelme with a stray hand as the latter burst into the box. Isco stepped up to send Aitor Fernandez the wrong way, burying his ninth successful penalty conversion in 10 attempts for Betis into the bottom-left corner.

The hosts' forward line continued to play with a great sense of purpose, and Santos’ day became a certifiable nightmare on the half-hour mark, when Isco pressured him into a giveaway.

From there, a succession of passes culminated in Cucho Hernandez playing the ball through for Abde Ezzalzouli to slot past Fernandez and score in a third successive head-to-head clash with the Rojillos.

It wouldn’t be an Osasuna show without Ante Budimir making some sort of impact, though. First came the own goal that appeared to put Betis out of sight, when Cucho flicked an Isco free-kick onto Budimir’s head, then Diego Llorente’s and back off Budimir and into the net.

He atoned almost instantly though, firing into the net after a fortunate deflection off Hector Bellerin allowed Raul Garcia to tee him up.

Osasuna capitalised on that shift in momentum, cutting the deficit to just one goal a mere five minutes later when Betis failed to fully clear a corner, enabling Alejandro Catena to sweep a ball across goal for Garcia to convert at the far post.

But Betis were in no mood to put themselves and their fans through a nail-biting finish, and made it 4-2 at the three-quarter mark when a defensive mix-up from Osasuna saw Isco fire into the top-left corner after a series of rebounds, though a VAR review was needed to rule out a possible Natan foul on Ruben Garcia in the build-up.

The goal that marked Isco’s first brace since February 2025 also seemingly represented the end of Osasuna’s hopes of a point.

Once again, their defensive struggles were a prominent theme, and the Rojillos’ eighth defeat in 11 away league matches (W1, D2) was given an extra degree of humiliation in the sixth minute of added time, when debutant Jose Morante fired in from near the D after latching onto a through-ball from Bellerin.

After what was ultimately an emphatic success, Betis will take on Porto with a positive mindset this Wednesday, having now lost just one of their last 17 league head-to-heads against Osasuna (W13, D3).

Flashscore Man of the Match: Isco (Real Betis)

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