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.
PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé scored twice to help the Ligue 1 leaders beat Metz 3-1 at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday and close out the year on a high as they maintained their five-point advantage at the top of the table.
Vitinha put the hosts in front early into the second half, scoring with his first touch, before Mbappé doubled the lead on the hour mark with a stunning shot from the edge of the box as the France forward celebrated his 25th birthday.
Kylian Mbappé goal vs Metz
The United States men’s national team scored a total of 47 goals in the 2023 calendar year, and I’ve gone through all of them to find the top 10. It wasn’t easy picking the best USMNT goals of 2023, but the list has been made.
Several different factors can go into what makes a goal great including the circumstances/importance of the game. For this list the context and opponents don’t matter, we’re simply judging how nice of a goal it was.
The quality of the assist is also factored in.
Let’s watch some goals.
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.
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
DORTMUND - Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1 at Group F winners Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday to secure second place and a spot in the Champions League knockout stage in their final group match.
Both sides squandered a bagful of golden chances in a surprisingly goalless first half.
The hosts had the early chances but PSG gradually found spaces and threatened with Lee Kang-in in the 16th minute and Kylian Mbappé's effort which was cleared by Niklas Süle at the last moment a little later.
Niklas Süle clearance vs PSG
Christian Pulisic netted his first Champions League goal in 637 days during AC Milan’s 2-1 victory vs. Newcastle on Wednesday. The result wasn’t enough for Milan to advance to the Round of 16 but did qualify the Italian club for the Europa League knockout playoffs.
In order to advance out of their Champions League group Milan needed to defeat Newcastle and required some help from Borussia Dortmund to best Paris Saint-Germain, however that game ended 1-1.
BARCELONA — High-flying Girona reclaimed top spot in LaLiga after beating champions Barcelona 4-2 away on Sunday, condemning Xavi Hernandez's side to their second league defeat of the season.
Artem Dovbyk and Miguel Gutierrez both scored for Girona in the first half, either side of Robert Lewandowski's equalizer, before Girona's Valery Fernandez and Cristhian Stuani added two more goals after the break with Ilkay Gundogan netting another for Barca.
The Columbus Crew outlasted LAFC 2-1 to win MLS Cup on Saturday in front 20,802 fans at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio. An unbelievable Malte Amundsen assist to Yaw Yeboah gave the Crew their second and game-winning goal.
Amundsen might just have won himself the assist of the season as the Danish center back delivered an inch-perfect ball that cut LAFC’s back line wide open.
Amundsen assist vs LAFC in MLS Cup
TWO FOR THE CREW
United States men’s national team and AS Monaco striker Folarin Balogun turned provider on Saturday as he assisted both of his side’s goals in a 2-1 Ligue 1 victory vs. Rennes.
Balogun entered the match with just one goal contribution in his last six games for Monaco and needed a solid performance. Monaco signed Balogun for roughly $43 million this summer.
The 22-year-old USMNT star delivered on Saturday this time with his passing rather than goal scoring.
Balogun assists vs Rennes