The new Adnoc Pro League season feels well and truly up and running following a matchday full of goals. Champions Al Ain hit seven, Ali Mabkhout grabbed a hat-trick, and star signing Miralem Pjanic excelled on debut for Sharjah. We pick out the highlights from Round 2.
Story of the round
Ali Mabkhout was the standout performer on Friday, scoring three goals in Al Jazira’s 4-2 win at Khorfakkan. It could have even been more, had the league’s all-time record goalscorer not missed a penalty. Still, it marked Mabkhout’s 15th top-flight treble — a remarkable feat. Add to his double in Round 1, the striker is off to a flier.
Al Wasl’s 2-1 away victory at new boys Al Bataeh may have been sealed by a Gilberto brace, but the night belonged to Omar Abdulrahman. The midfielder, deployed a little deeper in an incredibly attacking line-up, showcased some of his still-there talent, much to the delight of the raucous travelling fans. Turning 31 next week, the hope is the injury-ravaged playmaker can continue in this vein.
The headline act on Friday, though, was undoubtedly Pjanic. Signed two days previously, the former Roma, Juventus, and Barcelona midfielder slotted seamlessly into Sharjah’s team, playing an integral role in their 3-0 home win against Baniyas. It was Pjanic’s corner that led the opener, while he scored the second, from the penalty spot. He created multiple other chances, too. A debut that suggests even starrier times lay ahead.
There were plenty of good signs, also, for Shabab Al Ahli, who bounced back from defeat in last week’s opener with a come-from-behind, 2-1 triumph at Dibba Al Fujairah. Manager Leonardo Jardim’s second-half intervention told, with substitutes Cesar and Cheickna Doumbia getting the goals. The latter, from Cesar’s no-look pass, came four minutes from time.
The result of Round 2 took root in the Garden City, as Al Ain thumped sorry Al Dhafra 7-0. The champions, seeking to rebound from an opening-day draw, were electric, with Kodjo Laba plundering four goals and high-profile summer signing Andriy Yarmolenko opening his account for the club. Serhiy Rebrov’s side appear to have clicked into gear.
Thorsten Fink’s reign at Al Nasr has lift-off following a 2-0 win at home to Ajman. The former Bayern Munich midfielder, whose side drew 1-1 at Dhafra last week, has Jassim Yaqoub and Omar Juma to thank for the three points, although he needed Juma's 96th-minute intervention to make safe the result.
Matchday 2 was completed by the shock result of the week, when Ittihad Kalba stunned Al Wahda in Abu Dhabi to emerge 1-0 winners. Leandro Spadacio fired home the only goal of the game not long after the half hour. While Wahda will be understandably disappointed — they should really have had at least one first-half penalty — ambitious Kalba are expected to upset a few this season.
Player of the round: Kodjo Laba (Al Ain)
There should really be no one else after the Togo international’s four-goal haul against Dhafra. Last season’s top scorer was visibly dismayed in Round 1, when he squandered a 103rd-minute penalty to give Al Ain the win at Ajman. So what did he do? Notched a “super hat-trick” — his third since joining the club in 2019 — in the very next game. Laba now has 62 goals in 65 UAE top-flight appearances. Some return.
Manager of the round: Serhiy Rebrov (Al Ain)
A couple of candidates this week — Jardim deserves credit for Shabab Al Ahli’s turnaround — but when your team wins 7-0, it’s hard to argue against. Rebrov put aside last week’s opening draw, when afterwards he voiced fears about the toll the gruelling early-September weather wreaked on players, to guide his side to the league’s widest-margin victory in four-and-a-half years. When Al Ain click, they’re a joy to watch.
Goal of the round: Kodjo Laba (Al Ain)
Al Ain’s fourth goal of the rout, and Laba’s hat-trick, exemplified the football Rebrov demands. The build-up featured 18 passes, with the final few sequences comprising brilliantly fluid and fast interplay — Yarmolenko, Ahmed Barman and Bandar Al Ahbabi were key. It left Soufiane Rahimi to cross for Laba to head home. A truly superb team goal.
Brown/Black belt finals
3pm: 49kg female: Mayssa Bastos (BRA) v Thamires Aquino (BRA)
3.07pm: 56kg male: Hiago George (BRA) v Carlos Alberto da Silva (BRA)
3.14pm: 55kg female: Amal Amjahid (BEL) v Bianca Basilio (BRA)
3.21pm: 62kg male: Gabriel de Sousa (BRA) v Joao Miyao (BRA)
3.28pm: 62kg female: Beatriz Mesquita (BRA) v Ffion Davies (GBR)
3.35pm: 69kg male: Isaac Doederlein (BRA) v Paulo Miyao (BRA)
3.42pm: 70kg female: Thamara Silva (BRA) v Alessandra Moss (AUS)
3.49pm: 77kg male: Oliver Lovell (GBR) v Tommy Langarkar (NOR)
3.56pm: 85kg male: Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE) v Rudson Mateus Teles (BRA)
4.03pm: 90kg female: Claire-France Thevenon (FRA) v Gabreili Passanha (BRA)
4.10pm: 94kg male: Adam Wardzinski (POL) v Kaynan Duarte (BRA)
4.17pm: 110kg male: Yahia Mansoor Al Hammadi (UAE) v Joao Rocha (BRA
Understand What Black Is
The Last Poets
(Studio Rockers)
Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
WORLD RECORD FEES FOR GOALKEEPERS
1) Kepa Arrizabalaga, Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea (£72m)
2) Alisson, Roma to Liverpool (£67m)
3) Ederson, Benfica to Manchester City (£35m)
4) Gianluigi Buffon, Parma to Juventus (£33m)
5) Angelo Peruzzi, Inter Milan to Lazio (£15.7m
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. Final round
25 under - Antoine Rozner (FRA)
23 - Francesco Laporta (ITA), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG)
21 - Grant Forrest (SCO)
20 - Ross Fisher (ENG)
19 - Steven Brown (ENG), Joakim Lagergren (SWE), Niklas Lemke (SWE), Marc Warren (SCO), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 0
Stoke City 0
Man of the Match: Erik Pieters (Stoke)
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
Read more about the coronavirus
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20DarDoc%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Samer%20Masri%2C%20Keswin%20Suresh%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20HealthTech%3Cbr%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%24800%2C000%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Flat6Labs%2C%20angel%20investors%20%2B%20Incubated%20by%20Hub71%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi's%20Department%20of%20Health%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2010%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
THREE
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Nayla%20Al%20Khaja%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Jefferson%20Hall%2C%20Faten%20Ahmed%2C%20Noura%20Alabed%2C%20Saud%20Alzarooni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Results
4pm: Maiden; Dh165,000 (Dirt); 1,400m
Winner: Solar Shower; William Lee (jockey); Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
4.35pm: Handicap; Dh165,000 (D); 2,000m
Winner: Thaaqib; Antonio Fresu; Erwan Charpy.
5.10pm: Maiden; Dh165,000 (Turf); 1,800m
Winner: Bila Shak; Adrie de Vries; Fawzi Nass
5.45pm: Handicap; Dh175,000 (D); 1,200m
Winner: Beachcomber Bay; Richard Mullen; Satish Seemar
6.20pm: Handicap; Dh205,000 (T); 1,800m
Winner: Muzdawaj; Jim Crowley; Musabah Al Muhairi
6.55pm: Handicap; Dh185,000 (D); 1,600m
Winner: Mazeed; Tadhg O’Shea; Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Handicap; Dh205,000 (T); 1,200m
Winner: Riflescope; Tadhg O’Shea; Satish Seemar.
MATCH INFO
Everton 2 Southampton 1
Everton: Walcott (15'), Richarlison (31' )
Southampton: Ings (54')
Man of the match: Theo Walcott (Everton)
TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
