England

One unwritten rule of soccer that doesn’t really exist in other sports is the art of players not celebrating if they score a goal against a team they formerly played on.

Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood took that unwritten rule to heart on Boxing Day when netted a hat trick against his former club, Newcastle. 

The New Zealand forward was the hero in Forest’s massive 3-1 victory but hardly celebrated as he followed the unwritten rule of not celebrating after scoring against a former team.

Chris Wood not celebrating vs. Newcastle

WOLVERHAMPTON — Wolverhampton Wanderers continued their stellar home form to heap misery on Chelsea on Christmas eve with a 2-1 win in the Premier League on Sunday, thanks to second-half strikes from Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty.

Chelsea's best chance of the first half fell to Raheem Sterling who stole the ball from last man João Gomes and sprinted into the Wolves box with only the keeper Jose Sa to beat.

United States women’s national team midfielder and 2023 NWSL Champion Kristie Mewis is taking her talents to London as she leaves Gotham FC to join Women’s Super League (WSL) side West Ham United.

Mewis and Gotham FC mutually parted ways as the 32-year-old will face an entirely new challenge with West Ham who face a relegation battle. The Hammers sit second from last in the WSL table, have one win from 10 games and have the fewest goals scored in the league with eight.

Kristie Mewis West Ham transfer

The European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that European soccer's governing body UEFA and its global counterpart FIFA breached EU law when they prevented 12 clubs from forming a European Super League (ESL).

WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN SUPER LEAGUE?

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus plus nine other European major clubs announced the breakaway ESL -- a closed league -- in April 2021.

Sports development company A22 assisted with creating the ESL.

LONDON — Chelsea booked their place in the semi-finals of the League Cup on Tuesday, defeating Newcastle United 4-2 in a penalty shootout at Stamford Bridge after substitute Mykhailo Mudryk kept the Blues alive with a 92nd-minute equalizer.

Newcastle had appeared set to snatch a 1-0 win in west London until Kieran Trippier, on as a substitute, failed to cut out a Malo Gusto cross and allowed Mudryk, also on as a sub, to slot home, levelling the tie at 1-1 and taking it to penalties.

FIFA announced on Sunday that its revamped Club World Cup, to be held for the first time in 2025, will feature 32 teams and will be played from mid-June to mid-July.

Following are details of how the tournament will work:

- The United States will host the 2025 edition of the expanded event, which will be held every four years thereafter.

- The tournament will have eight groups of four with the top two teams from each group going through to the knockout stages -- the same format as the 2022 World Cup.

Nottingham Forest fell to Tottenham 2-0 on Friday and many fans are pointing the blame at United States goalkeeper Matt Turner after a massive error.

Turner had produced several important stops in the game to deny Spurs, however the only thing people will remember Friday’s game for was the gaffe in the 65th minute.

Matt Turner mistake vs Tottenham

UPDATE:

Luton captain Tom Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the pitch.

The score was 1-1 when the 29-year-old Wales international fell to the ground with no other player near him. Players and Luton manager Rob Edwards reacted immediately to get medical attention.

"Our medical staff have confirmed that the Hatters captain suffered cardiac arrest on the pitch but was responsive by the time he was taken off on the stretcher," Luton said in a statement.

Fulham and Mexico striker Raúl Jiménez revolutionized the term “headbutt” on Saturday when he received a red card for attacking Newcastle’s Sean Longstaff with his bum.

The Jiménez red card vs Newcastle is unlike any sending off we’ve ever seen. The Mexican striker carelessly flew in the air to block Longstaff’s pass and ended up clattering into him.

If this was WWE then Jiménez would’ve received a standing ovation, instead he got an early trip to the showers and left Fulham down a man in the 22nd minute.

Jiménez red card vs Newcastle

LONDON — Rebecca Welch will become the first female referee to officiate a Premier League match when she takes charge of Fulham's home game against Burnley on Dec. 23.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) confirmed the appointment on Thursday and also said Sam Allison would become the first Black official to take charge of a Premier match for 15 years.

Allison will be the referee for Sheffield United v Luton Town on Dec. 26.

Premier League female referee