Hat-trick hero Chris Wood has warned Nottingham Forest their Boxing Day triumph at Newcastle will count for nothing unless they build upon it.
Forest dragged themselves into 16th place in the Premier League table with a superb 3-1 victory at St James’ Park, but they remain only two points clear of the relegation zone heading into Saturday’s mouth-watering home clash with Manchester United.
Wood’s treble capped an impressive display and handed new boss Nuno Espirito Santo a first win in his second game at the helm, but the 32-year-old New Zealand international knows it can only be considered a start.
View this post on Instagram
He told Forest TV: “It’s most definitely a step in the right direction. I would never say ‘turned a corner’ because it is only one game and we need to remember than one game doesn’t make four or five.
“We need to work ahead and it’s not going to guarantee that we’re going to play well in the next game. We have to make sure we play well in the next game. It’s only on us as players and staff – and the fans getting behind us, that really helps.
“But I’m sure it will be bouncing, the City Ground, come the 30th.”
Forest showed real character as well as flair and deadly finishing on Tyneside as they fought back from Alexander Isak’s 23rd-minute penalty to level when Wood tapped home from the impressive Anthony Elanga’s pinpoint cross.
The frontman, who left Newcastle for the City Ground during the summer, then produced two deft finishes to make the most of defence-splitting passes from first Elanga and then defender Murillo and wrap up the win.
He said: “Look, we know Newcastle are a a top, top side – I know it first had – and we knew coming here was going to be very tough. They’re a good side, good players.
“They weren’t in the Champions league for no reason and they’re not near the top of the league for no reason because they are a good side.
“We just had to keep working on what we could do. We took risks, we took chances – sometimes they paid off, and sometimes they didn’t and we got caught. But that’s the type of football we wanted to play, that’s what we were given the license to try to do, and thankfully it worked.”
Wood admitted his second Premier League hat-trick – his first came for Burnley in a 4-0 win at Wolves in April 2021 – prompted some mixed feelings, but was no less welcome as a result.
He said: “It is bittersweet, but it’s fantastic. I’m obviously over the moon with the performance of the lads and the goals and the three points, most importantly.
“It was an interesting place to come back to. I really enjoyed my time up here, I’ve got a lot of close friends up here and things like that. It’s bittersweet, but I’m definitely going to take it.”
Juventus 2-0 Monza: Departing Alex Sandro scores as Bianconeri round off with a win
Juventus completed their Serie A campaign with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Monza thanks to first-half goals from Federico Chiesa and Alex Sandro.
Juve ended their season on 71 points, third in the standings, though they can still be overtaken by Europa League champions Atalanta, who sit fifth and have two matches left to play.
Chiesa broke the deadlock after 26 minutes on Saturday and long-serving left-back Sandro, playing in his final game for the Bianconeri before departing as a free agent, doubled the lead two minutes later with a header from a corner.
Juve came close to scoring a third early in the second half, but Chiesa's attempt from the edge of the box hit the woodwork.
Thiago Motta is expected to take charge of Juve in the coming days, after his departure from Bologna was confirmed.
Monza ended the campaign in 12th place with 45 points.
Data Debrief: How's your luck?
Chiesa's effort against the frame of the goal means that, since the beginning of the last season, only Inter (36) hit the woodwork more times than Juve (35) in Serie A.
Juve will be hoping to be that bit more clinical next term as they aim to challenge for the title under Motta.
Barcelona 2-0 Lyon: Ballon d'Or winners on target to seal Champions League triumph
Barcelona sealed a quadruple as they clinched their third Women's Champions League title by beating fellow European heavyweights Lyon 2-0.
Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas, both Ballon d'Or winners, with Barca's heroes in Bilbao on Saturday.
Bonmati opened the scoring in the 63rd minute and, after surviving an onslaught of Lyon pressure, Barca made sure of a famous victory in stoppage time – Putellas lashing home with her left foot after a sweeping counter-attack.
It marks Barca's first-ever win over Lyon, as they became the first team since Arsenal in 2007 to win four trophies in a single season.
Lyon and Barca went into Saturday's final in Bilbao having scored 70 goals between them in this season's Champions League.
Yet it was a cagey first half, with Barca's Caroline Graham Hansen looking the most likely to spark the match into life.
That changed just after the hour when Bonmati, last year's Ballon d'Or winner, saw a close-range cross-shot divert in off the unfortunate Vanessa Gilles, after a slick move had put the Spain international through down the left-hand side of the area.
Lyon, the eight-time European champions, could have found themselves 2-0 down soon after, but Selma Bacha made a vital challenge to deny Graham Hansen what would have been a deserved goal.
The French giants aimed to make their defender's good work count, with substitute Ada Hegerberg entering the fray.
Hegerberg, the all-time leading scorer in the Women's Champions League headed over from her best chance, as Barca's defenders – and goalkeeper Catalina Coll, who took a nasty hit to the head – fought stoically to clear their lines.
And Lyon's hopes were extinguished as another fine Barca move saw the ball worked back to Putellas in the area, and she unleashed an unstoppable effort into the roof of the net.
Quadruple queens
For the first time in 17 years, and the first time since the rebranding of the Women's Champions League, a team has won three domestic trophies and the European crown.
This Barca side, coached by Jonatan Giraldez, are a special bunch.
They have scored 129 goals in Liga F this season, winning 27 of their 28 games and drawing the other, conceding just nine times, and now they have a third Champions League title in the space of four years.
Bonmati and Putellas, their Ballon d'Or-winning duo, served up the key moments, but the whole team delivered a stellar performance to finally end their hoodoo against Lyon.
Bompastor bows out?
Lyon boss Sonia Bompastor is expected to join Chelsea ahead of next season, as the Blues' replacement for the departing Emma Hayes.
The 43-year-old has had an incredible tenure at Lyon, winning the Division 1 Feminine on three occasions and the Champions League in 2021-22.
Despite falling short at the final hurdle this time, she will leave a club legend.
Lino: Final-day win at Sociedad a big boost for Atletico
Samuel Lino believes Atletico Madrid's final-day victory over Real Sociedad will provide them with a timely boost heading into next season.
Diego Simeone's side ran out 2-0 winners at Reale Arena in their final match of the 2023-24 campaign. Lino opened the scoring after just nine minutes, while Reinildo sealed the points in second-half stoppage time.
However, despite a fourth-place finish in LaLiga, it brought the curtain down on a third successive trophyless season for Atleti, who will finish at least 18 points adrift of champions Real Madrid.
Los Rojiblancos fell to Borussia Dortmund following a 5-4 aggregate defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals, while they were soundly beaten by Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
But Lino, who had his fourth direct goal involvement in three appearances (one goal, three assists), thinks a hard-earned win against their sixth-place opponents - a fourth success in five games - will give him and his team-mates positive momentum to build on next season.
"It was an important victory to finish the season well," he told Movistar Plus. "We were good, focused, played a good game and that's what we wanted.
"Overall, we were not within the club's objectives, but we finished well, and now we have to switch off. A win away from home could help us to come back strong next season."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
