West Ham Surprise Newcastle with 2-0 Away Win

Soccer Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v West Ham United - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - November 25, 2024 West Ham United's Tomas Soucek celebrates after the match with Aaron Wan-Bissaka Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
Soccer Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v West Ham United - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - November 25, 2024 West Ham United's Tomas Soucek celebrates after the match with Aaron Wan-Bissaka Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
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West Ham Surprise Newcastle with 2-0 Away Win

Soccer Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v West Ham United - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - November 25, 2024 West Ham United's Tomas Soucek celebrates after the match with Aaron Wan-Bissaka Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
Soccer Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v West Ham United - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - November 25, 2024 West Ham United's Tomas Soucek celebrates after the match with Aaron Wan-Bissaka Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith

Newcastle’s winning run in the English Premier League came to an abrupt end when goals from Thomas Souček and Aaron Wan-Bissaka gave West Ham a surprise 2-0 win at St. James’ Park on Monday.
The Hammers rose into 14th place and the pressure on coach Julen Lopetegui was eased.
The London club has been inconsistent all season and Monday’s win was just its fourth in 12 league games, The Associated Press reported.
West Ham was worth it in the end but the three points came courtesy of slack defending by the home side. Emerson whipped in an out-swinging corner after 10 minutes and, with Newcastle defenders rooted to the spot, Souček stole in to nod home the opener.
Then eight minutes into the second half, captain Jarrod Bowen found Wan-Bissaka in the penalty box and he was left unchallenged and had time to fire an angled drive past Nick Pope.
“The second goal ... if you settle on a lead it can come back to haunt you,” Bowen said.
Newcastle brought on Harvey Barnes, and then Callum Wilson returned from a long-term back injury to make his first appearance of the season, but to no avail.
“I said we needed a performance and we did that," Bowen said. “Newcastle always score at home so to keep them to a clean sheet and score twice ... it’s a tough place to come to. We did that perfectly.”
The defeat ended a three-game winning streak for Newcastle and left the Saudi Arabia-owned club in ninth place, four points outside the top four.



Ronaldo Puts Al-Nassr on Brink of Asian CL Playoffs while Toney Advances Al-Ahli

Soccer Football - Asian Champions League - Group B - Al Gharafa v Al Nassr - Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar - November 25, 2024 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Ibraheem Al Omari
Soccer Football - Asian Champions League - Group B - Al Gharafa v Al Nassr - Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar - November 25, 2024 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Ibraheem Al Omari
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Ronaldo Puts Al-Nassr on Brink of Asian CL Playoffs while Toney Advances Al-Ahli

Soccer Football - Asian Champions League - Group B - Al Gharafa v Al Nassr - Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar - November 25, 2024 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Ibraheem Al Omari
Soccer Football - Asian Champions League - Group B - Al Gharafa v Al Nassr - Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar - November 25, 2024 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Ibraheem Al Omari

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia defeated Al-Gharafa of Qatar 3-1 in the AFC Champions League Elite group stage on Monday.
Al-Nassr is virtually assured of a place in the knockout stages, The Associated Press reported.
Ronaldo had two early shots well saved by goalkeeper Sergio Ricom, and half an hour in he placed the ball on the penalty spot. Sadio Mane went down in the area under a challenge from Matias Nani and the referee awarded a penalty. But the VAR overturned the decision.
Ronaldo then missed the best opportunity of the first 45 minutes, heading a free kick just wide from close range.
He made amends in the new half, heading home powerfully from an Angelo cross. Angelo then went around the goalkeeper for 2-0 in the 58th.
Ronaldo sealed the victory six minutes later, shooting home from inside the area.
Former Real Madrid striker Joselu pulled a goal back for Al-Gharafa.
Earlier, Ivan Toney scored twice as Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia won at defending champion Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates 2-1 to become the first team to book a place in the knockout stages with three group games to spare.
The England striker, who arrived in Jeddah from English Premier League team Brentford in August, came off the bench in the second half and scored twice in four minutes.
Both came from Riyad Mahrez crosses; Toney headed home the first and stretched to guide in the second.
“Coach (Matthias) Jaissle told me to come on and make a difference,” Toney said. “It was challenging because I've missed many games, but I stepped in and delivered a good performance.”
It was a fifth win in five by Al-Ahli, which moved into first place in its 12-team group. The tournament is divided into two groups, with the top eight from each progressing to a round of 16.