Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo said he never doubted Harry Kane's commitment after the England captain returned to the starting XI to fire his team into the Europa Conference League group stage on Thursday.
Trailing Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira 1-0 from the play-off first leg, Spurs ran out 3-0 winners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Kane scoring twice. Giovani Lo Celso scored the third to put the result beyond doubt and send Tottenham into the group phase of Uefa's inaugural third-tier club competition.
England striker Kane had wanted to leave Spurs in the close season for Manchester City, but was denied a move by club chairman Daniel Levy and confirmed earlier this week he would be remaining in north London.
He had missed Tottenham's first two games of the campaign to regain full fitness after captaining England on their run to the Euro 2020 final, but made a substitute appearance in a 1-0 win at Nuno's former club Wolves last weekend.
"I see Harry every day since he joined us, every day. He doesn't have to prove (anything) to anyone," Nuno said. "He's committed. You can see.
"All the situations that have happened, are part of the past, let's look and move forward, but I see him every day."
Santo gave Kane his first start since taking over as manager and also named him as captain with usual skipper Hugo Lloris rested.
The 28-year-old striker made an almost immediate impact, levelling the tie in the ninth minute by collecting Bryan Gil's pass and slotting home.
Kane pounced on a loose ball in the box to put Spurs in control 10 minutes before half-time, to the delight of the home fans who had sung his name at Molineux when his future was still uncertain.
Lo Celso then struck in the second half and Kane was replaced by Son Heung-min with 18 minutes left.
"He (Kane) is still improving," Nuno said. "But playing is the best way for all players to improve, to compete and the edge of the game is what takes players beyond their limits and that is what we expect from all of them."
Roma cruise into group stage
Jose Mourinho's Roma eased into the group phase with a 3-0 second-leg victory over Trabzonspor at the Stadio Olimpico.
The Italian side wrapped up a 5-1 aggregate success to book their spot in Friday's draw and give Mourinho a third straight win since taking charge.
Roma, who also won their Serie A opener against Fiorentina at the weekend, put the tie beyond their Turkish visitors' reach with Bryan Cristante's 20th-minute strike.
Nicolo Zaniolo and substitute Stephan El Shaarawy both scored in the second half as Roma progressed with the minimum of fuss.
French club Rennes also cruised through, winning 3-1 over Rosenborg in Norway for a 5-1 aggregate success.
Maximilian Wittek's double helped the Netherlands' Vitesse Arnhem edge out Anderlecht 2-1 and 5-4 on aggregate, while FC Copenhagen thrashed Sivasspor 5-0 in the Danish capital after a 2-1 first-leg win.
Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar reached the group stage of a European competition for the first time, beating Riga in extra time.
Europa League play-offs
In the Europa League play-offs, Fenerbahce saw off HJK 6-2 on aggregate, winning 5-2 in Finland, while Rapid Vienna beat Zorya Luhansk 3-2 in Ukraine after last week's 3-0 first-leg victory.
Scottish giants Celtic held on for a 3-2 aggregate win over AZ Alkmaar despite losing in the Netherlands.
Kyogo Furuhashi's brilliant start to life in Glasgow since signing from Kashima Antlers continued with his seventh goal for Celtic.
AZ hit back to lead on the night before half-time, but a 2-1 defeat was enough for Celtic to give their new era under Ange Postecoglou another boost after an impressive start to the season since the former Australia boss took charge.
Steven Gerrard's Rangers also edged into the group stage, beating Alashkert 1-0 on aggregate after a goalless draw in Armenia.
Pieces of Her
Stars: Toni Collette, Bella Heathcote, David Wenham, Omari Hardwick
Director: Minkie Spiro
Rating:2/5
The five pillars of Islam
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More about Middle East geopolitics
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Levante v Real Mallorca (12am)
Leganes v Barcelona (4pm)
Real Betis v Valencia (7pm)
Granada v Atletico Madrid (9.30pm)
Sunday
Real Madrid v Real Sociedad (12am)
Espanyol v Getafe (3pm)
Osasuna v Athletic Bilbao (5pm)
Eibar v Alaves (7pm)
Villarreal v Celta Vigo (9.30pm)
Monday
Real Valladolid v Sevilla (12am)
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
RESULTS
2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner: AF Senad, Nathan Crosse (jockey), Kareem Ramadan (trainer)
2.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Ashjaan, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel.
3pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: Amirah, Conner Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
3.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: Jap Al Yaasoob, Szczepan Mazur, Irfan Ellahi.
4pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Cup Prestige Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Jawaal, Fernando Jara, Majed Al Jahouri.
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Manhunter, Ryan Curatolo, Mujeeb Rahman.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
