Luis Diaz’s Liverpool career was 10 minutes old when he offered the first evidence that Jurgen Klopp has again displayed his ability to find a forward in the transfer market.
Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota are signs he has a golden touch and while Diaz’s debut did not contain a goal for him, it did bring one for Takumi Minamino, who may drift down the pecking order after the £50 million (€67.7m) man’s arrival.
Diaz capitalised a breakdown in communication in the Cardiff defence, dispossessed Perry Ng and teed-up Minamino. It came courtesy of Klopp’s favourite tactic game from a player who has barely had time to work with his new teammates. “Incredible high press, I love it,” smiled his new manager.
There was a painful sequel courtesy of an accidental collision with Cardiff’s Aden Flint. “I saw the big fellow of Cardiff standing on his knee,” Klopp noted. “Now he has his first assist and his first scar. But it is nothing serious.”
But Liverpool could celebrate a new start and a fresh start as, for just the second time in Klopp’s reign, they booked a place in the last 16 of the FA Cup and an Anfield date with Norwich City.
Harvey Elliott’s return, 21 weeks after he dislocated his ankle, has come quicker than many expected and was capped by a maiden Liverpool goal. It was taken superbly, the 18-year-old turning to unleash an unstoppable half-volley after he met Andy Robertson’s cross. “With the goal it became a proper fairy tale,” grinned Klopp. “It was a horrible injury. When we lost him at Leeds, it was one of the hardest moments of my career.”
Diaz and Elliott came on together, a double change featuring two men who could figure together prominently in the future. Yet Klopp had waited to bring each on until after his side scored. “In these games you need an opener,” he said and, not for the first time, Diogo Jota delivered.
Jota’s brilliance in the air belies his relatively small stature and he timed his leap to outjump the far taller Mark McGuinness and head in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free kick for his 15th goal of the season. “He has a nose for these situations,” Klopp noted.
Jota’s capacity to emerge unmarked in the penalty box was notable again minutes later when he volleyed wide. He had been Liverpool’s major threat in the first half, drawing a sharp save from Dillon Phillips with a fourth-minute effort that proved their only shot on target before the break.
Cardiff felt they should have had a first-half penalty, for Ibrahima Konate’s barge on Mark Harris, while Liverpool were reprieved when goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher charged out and brought down the forward in the first minute of the second half.
Referee Andy Madley settled for a yellow card, the distance from his unguarded net helping to save Kelleher. “I don’t think it was a sending off,” said the commendably honest Cardiff manager Steve Morison. Ruben Colwill, 19, became the second teenager to score, drilling in a consolation goal but it was Diaz and Elliott’s day.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 1:39:46.713
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 00:00.908
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 00:12.462
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 00:12.885
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 00:13.276
6. Fernando Alonso, McLaren 01:11.223
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 1 lap
8. Sergio Perez, Force India 1 lap
9. Esteban Ocon, Force India 1 lap
10. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren 1 lap
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso 1 lap
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault 1 lap
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas 1 lap
14. Lance Stroll, Williams 1 lap
15. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber 2 laps
16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber 2 laps
17r. Nico Huelkenberg, Renault 3 laps
r. Paul Di Resta, Williams 10 laps
r. Romain Grosjean, Haas 50 laps
r. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 70 laps
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
Meydan Racecourse racecard:
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes Listed (PA) | Dh175,000 | 1,900m
7.05pm: Maiden for 2-year-old fillies (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: The Dubai Creek Mile Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 1,600m
8.15pm: Maiden for 2-year-old colts (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,600m
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 2,000m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,600m.
Kanye%20West
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French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
'Brazen'
Director: Monika Mitchell
Starring: Alyssa Milano, Sam Page, Colleen Wheeler
Rating: 3/5
Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
