A fifth straight win. A first clean sheet. Even the sight of under-fire goalkeeper Petr Cech chipping the ball over an onrushing forward to find a teammate.
Things are really starting to click for Arsenal under new coach Unai Emery.
Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored in the space of three second-half minutes to lead Arsenal to a 2-0 win over Everton in the Premier League on Sunday.
While it was a pair of strikers who sealed a fourth league victory in a row — along with a win in the Europa League — it was as much a day to celebrate for Arsenal’s oft-criticised defence, and the goalkeeper behind it.
Cech has been challenged by Emery to use his feet more so the team can play the ball out from the back. It has been a tough adjustment period for a player who, at 36, is in the twilight of his career but his faultless display against Everton showed he is getting there.
“Petr, he has a lot of experience and quality,” Emery said. “He started the season very well and he is having the performances that we want. Today he shows us he is doing very well and continuing with this work and spirit every day.”
Toward the end of the game, Cech drew a gasp, then a roar of approval, from Arsenal fans when he lofted a deft pass over Everton forward Richarlison and picked out right back Hector Bellerin. Before that, it was his shot-stopping that really saved Arsenal.
Everton had the better of the first half at Emirates Stadium, with Richarlison — back after a three-match domestic ban for headbutting an opponent — proving dangerous down the left wing and forcing a good parried save out of Cech.
Theo Walcott, back at Arsenal for the first time since being sold to Everton in January, also drew a good block from the goalkeeper after being played in for a one-on-one, and Arsenal was arguably fortunate to still be level at halftime.
The turning point came in the 56th minute when Lacazette picked up a short pass from Aaron Ramsey on the left channel, took a touch, and curled a shot in off the far post for his second goal of the season. Emery later said he was about to replace Lacazette just before the France striker scored.
Everton can justifiably complain about the second goal, with Aubameyang clearly in an offside position when receiving the ball from Ramsey’s flick at the end of a counterattack. The assistant referee’s flag stayed down as Aubameyang curled home from close range.
“It’s too clear,” Everton manager Marco Silva said. “For me, it’s strange.”
Aubameyang is having to play on the left wing to accommodate Lacazette as the team’s central striker, but it is not stopping the Gabon striker from scoring. Since his Premier League debut on February 3, only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (16) has scored more goals than Aubameyang’s 12.
This was his fourth goal of the season, with two of them coming against Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava in the Europa League on Thursday.
Arsenal closed the game out without conceding — for the first clean sheet under Emery — despite centre back Sokratis hobbling off with a knee injury in the first half.
For Everton, it is just one win in six league games in Silva’s first season.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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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
SPECS
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Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
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Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
