“Fantastic performance,” said Jose Mourinho. “Amazing goal.” The first part was serious, the second said with a smile.
Victory allowed him the levity of the light-hearted. He was discussing Eric Bailly, whose first start in almost four months saw the Ivorian produce a near-imperious display. Nearly, because he contrived to score for Liverpool in remarkable fashion, applying a backheel flick to Sadio Mane’s cross.
It mattered not. United’s first-half display was crowned by two goals from Marcus Rashford. Mourinho, faulted for his big-game record at United, has beaten Chelsea and Liverpool in successive games at Old Trafford.
If he perhaps claimed too much of the credit for beating Antonio Conte’s team, his imprint was apparent in just the second time he tasted victory over Jurgen Klopp.
There is an argument that the German represents the future and the Portuguese the past. This was an occasion to rebut it, a day when Mourinho allied his innate pragmatism with the adventure to field four forwards.
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It ended in a classic Mourinho rearguard action, the Portuguese savouring Marouane Fellaini’s presence as an impact substitute designed to protect a lead.
His team dropped deep – “it was not our intention to be as defensive as we were,” Mourinho said – but, Bailly’s aberration apart, defended well. Ashley Young kept Mohamed Salah quieter than many a specialist left-back has done. The Egyptian scored against the rest of the top six; not against United.
Mourinho’s side prevailed with 32 per cent of possession. "You can be in control without having the ball, you can be in trouble when you have the ball," he said. Liverpool’s pressure did not produce enough chances.
United’s did. “In the situations around the two goals, it was not like it should be,” lamented Klopp. In contrast, Mourinho savoured the effectiveness of his gameplan. He targeted Dejan Lovren in an aerial attack that bypassed Virgil van Dijk. He deployed Romelu Lukaku to devastating effect.
“Lukaku was confident from experience that could be dominant towards Lovren,” Mourinho said. “His performance was fantastic and he didn’t score.”
It has been a mantra of Mourinho’s that he does not judge Lukaku by his goal return. Specialist scorer turned selfless foil, looking an old-fashioned target man as he won duel after duel. “You can’t lose a header with Lukaku,” Klopp said. Lovren lost two, at considerable cost.
Mourinho has a realist’s willing to play to strengths. United had an unashamed, effective directness. Both United goals stemmed from David de Gea’s goal kicks. Each showed Lukaku had the better of Lovren in the air.
The opener was a vignette of Rashford’s abilities: the pace to sprint on to Lukaku’s flick on, the skill to dart away from Trent Alexander-Arnold, the shot arrowed and angled beyond Loris Karius. The second showed certain similarities, though Rashford’s predatory instincts were stirred when Lukaku fed Juan Mata, Virgil van Dijk intercepted and the ball bounced free.
United’s initial superiority was almost encapsulated spectacularly. Alexis Sanchez dinked a cross, Juan Mata attempted an overhead kick and just missed the target. “A third, Mata goal would be amazing and fantastic,” Mourinho said.
Instead, Liverpool fought back. Klopp claimed a penalty for Fellaini’s challenge on Mane.
Fortune, he felt, did not favour his side. “It is all about the result and we lost,” said the German bluntly. “Perfect result,” Mourinho countered. “Perfect performance, I would not go that far.”
But a top-four finish is all but secured. United have a cushion in second. Mourinho could afford to joke about own goals.
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The Breadwinner
Director: Nora Twomey
Starring: Saara Chaudry, Soma Chhaya, Laara Sadiq
Three stars
The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
MATCH INFO
Argentina 47 (Tries: Sanchez, Tuculet (2), Mallia (2), De La Fuente, Bertranou; Cons: Sanchez 5, Urdapilleta)
United States 17 (Tries: Scully (2), Lasike; Cons: MacGinty)
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
