In the early morning of December 16, Beijing time, world football ushered in a number of fierce matches. Jeddah United faced a strong opponent from Cairo Nationals in the Club World Cup and were eliminated with a score of 1:3 and missed the promotion. Tottenham, meanwhile, made it two league wins in a row with a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Juventus, on the other hand, drew 1-1 with Genoa in Serie A and failed to reach the top of the standings, putting on a night of exciting games.
In the focus of the Club World Cup, Jeddah United, as the champion of the Saudi Arabian League last season, was led by Benzema and N'Golo Kante, and defeated Auckland City 3-0 in the first round to advance. However, facing Cairo Nationals, the champions of the African Champions League, Jeddah United are clearly at a disadvantage. The game was almost one-sided, with Cairo Nationals scoring three goals in a row, Benzema missing a penalty in the first half, and Jeddah United pulling one back in the last minute of the second half, and finally regretting the exit with a score of 1:3. Benzema scored his sixth goal in the Club World Cup in his career, equalling Gareth Bale for second place in the all-time scorer list, just one goal away from Cristiano Ronaldo.
At this point, the semi-finals of the Club World Cup and their matchups have all been revealed. The specific match is Champions League champion Manchester City against AFC Champions League champion Urawa Red Diamonds, and South American champion Fluminense takes on African champion Cairo Nacional. Among them, it is worth noting that Champions League champions Manchester City make their Club World Cup debut, which will start at 2 a.m. Beijing time on December 20.
In the Premier League, Tottenham ended a five-game winless run in the previous round and moved back to fifth place. Against Nottingham Forest in this round, Tottenham Hotspur continued their good form in the previous round, winning 2-0 away and claiming an important victory.
In first-half stoppage time, Kulusevski completed a cross and set up Richarlison's header to find the back of the net. In the second half, the opposition goalkeeper made a mistake, and Kulusevski took advantage of the situation to score a blast to help Tottenham Hotspur win 2-0 against Nottingham Forest, ushering in a second consecutive league win and accumulating 33 points. With one more round, they managed to level with Manchester City, but the goal difference was slightly lower and they were in fifth place.
Richarlison, who contributed the goal, has scored five goals and provided three assists in 15 games in all competitions this season, which is already more than his performance last season (2022 23), when he only had three goals and three assists.
In Serie A, Juventus and Genoa played 1:1 and missed the top. This season, Serie A has gradually evolved into a pattern of Inter Milan and Juventus competing for the title, with only two points separating the two teams at the moment, with Juventus in second place.
In the 28th minute of the first half, Chiesa was brought down by the opposing goalkeeper in the penalty area and awarded a penalty, and he himself hit the penalty to help Juve lead 1-0. In the 48th minute of the second half, Juventus made a mistake at the back, which led to Gudmundsson's stabbing and scoring to level the score at 1:1 for Genoa. In the 89th minute, Chiesa took a corner kick, Locatelli outflanked the point but was saved by the Genoa goalkeeper, Juve missed the chance to kill, and finally drew 1:1.
After being forced to draw, Juventus reached 37 points, and although they played one more round, they could not surpass Inter Milan, who had 38 points, and remained in second place.