Manchester United punished Newcastle United 4-1 at Old Trafford on Thursday thanks to a devastating performance from the front three of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood. Newcastle’s Matty Longstaff scored the game’s opening goal in the 17th minute, but the Red Devils replied with four unanswered (three of which were down to Newcastle errors) to climb to seventh in the table.
Tottenham’s top four aspirations were lifted Thursday following a 2-1 win over Brighton at Spurs’ Stadium. Brighton took a first half lead through Adam Webster, but Tottenham roared back with second half strikes from Harry Kane and Dele Alli.
Alli’s classy winner in the 72nd minute was a continuation of the Englishman’s fine form under manager José Mourinho: since the Portuguese’s appointment, Alli has scored five goals and provided three assists in eight games.
“When I left you I was but the learner, now I am the master,” is what Frank Lampard presumably said to José Mourinho following Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham on Sunday. After suffering four defeats in their last five Premier League games, Lampard elected to switch to a back three and relied on excellent performances from Willian, Mason Mount and Marcos Alonso to drive Mourinho’s side inside its shell at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Barcelona and Real Madrid played to a scoreless El Clásico draw for the first time in 30 years with the match largely failing to live up to the extreme prematch hype.
Monterrey gave Liverpool all it could handle in today’s FIFA Club World Cup semifinal in Qatar. The two sides exchanged early goals through Naby Keïta and Rogelio Funes Mori, but it was the substitute Roberto Firmino who scored the dramatic winner in second half stoppage time to book Liverpool’s place in the final, where they’ll meet Copa Libertadores champion Flamengo.
Jurgen Klopp was out of town. All the club’s top players were out of town. Basically all of Liverpool’s first team was in Doha, Qatar, preparing for a Club World Cup semifinal against Monterrey.
So Liverpool left U-23 coach Neil Critchley in charge of a bunch of kids for the club’s Carabao Cup quarterfinal against Aston Villa. The Reds got smashed.
It was one of the wildest NCAA soccer games in recent memory, and it was the perfect way to close out 2019 in U.S. soccer.
Georgetown outlasted top-seeded Virginia to claim the Hoyas’ first-ever men’s College Cup title in an epic match on Sunday in Cary, North Carolina. The teams were tied 3-3 after regulation before Georgetown keeper Tomas Romero, a freshman, came up with the only save of a penalty kick shootout to lift his side to a 7-6 win.
Kevin De Bruyne is not the fastest player. He’s not the strongest nor is he even particularly physically imposing. But De Bruyne vs Arsenal was an absolute joy to watch on Sunday.
De Bruyne had two goals and an assist in the first half alone as Manchester City ripped Arsenal to shreds 3-0 at the Emirates on Sunday. The redheaded Belgian was at his glorious best, dictating the match and providing fantastic finishes. If not for Gunners keeper Bernd Leno, KDB would’ve had at least three or four goals.
Ajax, semifinalist last time around, has been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League at the group stage following a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to Valencia in Amsterdam.
Heading into the day as Group H leaders, Johan Cruijff ArenA fully expected a celebratory affair given the fact that Ajax had previously crushed Valencia 3-0 at the Mestalla back on Oct. 2, but Rodrigo’s goal in the 24th minute — coupled with Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Lille — sent Ajax crashing down to third and into the Europa League.
Leicester City and Jamie Vardy’s remarkable run continued on Sunday with a 4-1 away victory over Aston Villa. Vardy scored a brace to take his total to 16 goals in 16 games and to extend his goalscoring streak to eight matches.