Nottingham Forest rise to second after 2-0 win at Everton

Nottingham Forest ended the year on a high by beating toothless Everton to move up to second in the Premier League.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s high-flying side are quickly turning into the story of the season with stellar showings that are threatening to disrupt the top-flight’s elite.

With Arsenal not in action until Wednesday, victory at Goodison Park guaranteed finishing the day just a place behind leaders Liverpool, who travel to West Ham later on Sunday (kick-off 17:15 GMT).

Striker Chris Wood was involved in both of his side’s goals, netting a delightful finish for his 11th league goal of a fruitful campaign, before feeding Morgan Gibbs-White for the captain to coolly convert in the second half.

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New Zealander Wood had given the Everton defence a couple of warning signs when he fired a long-range volley wide and flicked a header over, but made no mistake when exchanging headers with Anthony Elanga before producing a lofted finish over the stranded Jordan Pickford.

At the other end, Armando Broja was given his first Toffees start and showed quick feet on the edge of the area but drilled wide, while Ramon Sosa should have doubled Nottingham’s lead before half-time when played through, but the Paraguayan sent his shot the wrong side of the post.

Gibbs-White made sure of the points just after the hour mark, cutting inside and firing home to lift Nottingham up to being Liverpool’s closest title challengers at the halfway stage.

Nottingham Forest rise to second after 2-0 win at Everton

Salah strikes as Liverpool hammer West Ham 5-0

Liverpool stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League to eight points as they thrashed an abject West Ham United at the London Stadium.

It was another capital goal-fest for Arne Slot’s irresistible side after the 6-3 win at Tottenham seven days previously, the outcome never in doubt as a first-half masterclass left a desperately passive Hammers well beaten.

Liverpool had already missed several chances before Luis Diaz gave them the lead with a powerful finish on the half-hour mark. Cody Gakpo was then the beneficiary of Mohamed Salah’s brilliant footwork to add a second after 40 minutes, before the Egyptian inevitably got in on the act himself with a low drive on the stroke of half-time for his 20th goal of a superb season.

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Julen Lopetegui’s side could not even manage damage limitation as Trent Alexander-Arnold added the fourth after 54 minutes when his long-range effort took a deflection off Max Kilman’s head past Alphonse Areola.

Only Mohammed Kudus offered anything resembling hope for the hosts, hitting the woodwork in each half while Luis Guilherme did the same just before the end, but this was no consolation as they were utterly outclassed by this rampant Liverpool outfit.

The gap in quality was emphasised six minutes from time when Salah bamboozled several West Ham defenders with a brilliant run from inside his own half before setting up substitute Diogo Jota for a typically clinical finish

Salah strikes as Liverpool hammer West Ham 5-0

Inter Milan crush Cagliari 3-0 to top Serie A

Inter Milan made it three Serie A wins on the bounce, defeating Cagliari 3-0 at the Unipol Domus to claim top spot, overtaking Atalanta BC on goal difference.

Cagliari aimed to recover from their narrow loss to Venezia, but Inter’s arrival posed a daunting challenge, with the Scudetto contenders boasting an 11-match unbeaten league streak coming into the contest.

To their credit, the Isolani held firm early on, even as Lautaro Martínez squandered a golden chance from the edge of the six-yard box, misdirecting Nicolò Barella’s pinpoint cross with a header that grazed the top of the bar.

Despite Davide Nicola’s men testing the visitors’ resolve with swift counters at the other end, and Barella’s thunderous strike forcing a spectacular save from Simone Scuffet, neither side managed to break the deadlock before the interval.

As a result, Cagliari narrowly avoided trailing at half-time for a league-high 10th time, while Inter preserved their status as Serie A’s only team yet to be behind at the break this campaign.

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Inter Milan wasted little time after the restart, shattering Cagliari’s resistance when Alessandro Bastoni guided Barella’s cross into the far corner with a looping header beyond Scuffet’s reach.

Nicola introduced a pair of fresh legs around the hour mark, but it proved rather futile as Martínez found the net against his favourite Serie A opponents for the 10th time, effortlessly guiding Barella’s precise delivery from the right flank into the back of the net.

Mateusz Wieteska then handled the ball inside the area, allowing Hakan Çalhanoğlu to bury the ensuing penalty with aplomb into the left corner.

From there, Simone Inzaghi and his men coasted to full-time, wrapping up 2024 on a high note by claiming their 27th win this calendar year. The reigning champions are now unbeaten in 12 consecutive top-flight outings, having last fallen to rivals AC Milan back in September.

In stark contrast, Cagliari linger in the drop zone after suffering their 10th loss this campaign, with five of those now coming in succession – marking their worst losing streak since February.

Inter Milan crush Cagliari 3-0 to top Serie A