Atletico Madrid eased past Kazakhstan champions FC Astana 4-0 on Wednesday to get their European campaign back on track after a shock defeat to Benfica last time out.
Saul Niguez opened the scoring with a clever backheel before Jackson Martinez scored his first goal at the Vicente Calderon for Atletico to put the hosts well on course for victory.
Substitute Oliver Torres added a third after the break before Denis Dedchenko’s late own goal rounded off the scoring.
“I am happy to get the victory because it puts us ahead in a difficult group that is further complicated by Galatasaray’s win,” Atletico manager Diego Simeone told BeIN sports.
“It is an important step for the team. From what I saw from an Astana side with a lot of players missing, it will also be a very difficult game when we go there.”
Galatasaray’s 2-1 win over Benfica in the other game in the Group C means Atletico draw level with Benfica at the top on six points, two points clear of the Turkish champions.
Astana had travelled over 5,000 kilometres west to the Spanish capital and were immediately under the cosh from the 2013/14 finalists.
Goalkeeper Nenad Eric denied Diego Godin twice from dangerous corners, but it was another well-worked set-piece that produced the opening goal midway through the first-half.
A short corner between Gabi and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco freed the Belgian and his cross was flicked home by Saul.
Martinez has failed to live up to his price tag since a €35 million (Dh145.8m) move from FC Porto in the summer, but Simeone’s faith in the Colombian was rewarded when he finally found the net thanks to a deflection off a stray Astana leg to double Atletico’s lead six minutes later.
“The goal was a moment of joy for the whole team. I have been working hard to try and contribute,” said Martinez.
“It was like a liberation from the games that had gone before.”
Only a brilliant save from Eric denied Martinez a second from a thumping header just before half-time.
However, the third goal did arrive for the hosts just after the hour mark as a lung-bursting run from captain Gabi teed up Oliver to chip home.
Atletico keeper Jan Oblak had been a mere spectator for much of the evening, but he produced a brilliant save from Foxi Kethevoama moments later to ensure Simeone’s men kept an eighth clean sheet in their last nine home games in the Champions League.
Fernando Torres replaced Martinez for the final 25 minutes and passed up two great chances to register his 100th goal for the club.
Yet, Atletico did get a fourth a minute from time when Dedchenko could only turn Juanfran’s driven cross into his own net.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.0-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E666hp%20at%206%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E850Nm%20at%202%2C300-4%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQ1%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh1.15%20million%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
RESULT
West Brom 2 Liverpool 2
West Brom: Livermore (79'), Rondón (88' )
Liverpool: Ings (4'), Salah (72')
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
RESULT
Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3
Chelsea: Willian (40'), Batshuayi (42', 49')
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
