Chris Wood left his former club Newcastle stunned with a stellar hat-trick for Nottingham Forest in a boxing day clash. The New Zealand striker, starting under manager Nuno Espirito Santo, netted three goals to secure a 3-1 win for Forest at St James’ Park. Wood’s hat-trick came after Aleksandar Isak had initially given Newcastle the lead in their bid to reverse a challenging run of form. Wood was offloaded from Newcastle’s camp, after arriving in January 2022, where he scored just four Premier League goals in 35 appearances. 
Chris Wood scored hat-trick, hands Nottingham needed three points – Getty image His first goal in first-half injury time was a straightforward tap-in from close range after excellent work by Anthony Elanga. The second was a fine finish, with Wood chipping the ball over the goalkeeper from a tight angle. While Wood was the star of the game, Forest also relied on contributions from Joe Worrall and Neco Williams to secure the win. The victory takes Nottingham Forest to 17 points, while Newcastle remains seven points off the top four, facing the risk of slipping further down the table in upcoming matches.
Against Fulham in the first 45 minutes, Trossard assisted Gabriel with Arsenal’s opener from a corner, floated in another delightful cross for Gabriel Martinelli to nod home to make it two before finding Martin Odegaard, who made it three, just before the whistle. Trossard now has five assists and one goal in nine games since joining Arsenal in January. 
He won possession six times and had three touches in the opponent’s box, while creating two big chances and providing three assists, bringing his total to five assists in the last four games. 