Sergio Aguero has warned Manchester City’s title rivals he will do everything in his power to fire the club to Premier League glory this season.
Aguero scored a hat-trick in City’s FA Cup fourth round win over Watford to take his goal tally so far this term to a remarkable 25 from 24 appearances.
While Aguero’s second half treble once again showcased his sublime skills, more significantly the goals spared City’s blushes after Manuel Pellegrini’s team trailed 2-0 against second tier Watford.
Pellegrini, whose side continue their challenge for the Premier League title at Tottenham on Wednesday, later branded City’s defending in the 4-2 win as a “disaster” and said he could have made 11 substitutions at half-time.
Fortunately for the City manager, Aguero is in the form of his life and shows little sign of being slowed by the calf injury that sidelined him over the Christmas period.
Since returning to fitness, Aguero has scored six times in four matches to keep City firmly in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple trophy haul.
The 25 year old is happy to take the plaudits when he shines, but he is more concerned with ensuring City finish the year with silverware.
“The important thing is the goals contribute to the team’s victories and we win titles,” Aguero said.
“I don’t have any specific goals to reach but (I want) as many as possible.
“We weren’t expecting to score four goals. We knew at half-time we needed to improve and in the end we won and we have made it to the next round. We are happy with that.”
City travel to White Hart Lane unbeaten in their last 10 matches in all competitions and having scored 22 goals in their previous five games.
But Pellegrini’s team will have to maintain that blistering pace to keep in touch with leaders Arsenal, who have been in fine form themselves.
They can open up a four-point lead at the top if they win at Southampton on Tuesday, leaving City will little margin for error when they arrive in north London.
If Aguero does draw a rare blank on Wednesday, Pellegrini can still turn to a battery of other top-class strikers, including Montenegro international Stevan Jovetic, who has finally recovered from a series of ailments.
Jovetic has endured a torrid time since his £22 million (Dh134m) move from Fiorentina due to a succession of injuries and illnesses.
Jovetic suffered a hamstring injury in pre-season, another early in the campaign, and he then limped out of a game in October with a calf problem.
He was due to return for the League Cup quarter-final at Leicester in December but went down with food poisoning and then injured a quad muscle.
The 24 year old is now back in contention and after making two successive substitute appearances he is anxious for more game time with a team that has clocked up 110 goals this season
“It’s much easier when you play and score goals but unfortunately for me it’s not been a good way to start,” he said.
“But I know I can do so many good things for this club. I hope I will show that in the next four months.
“There’s a lot of games, so hopefully we’ll win a lot of trophies.”
Fifth-placed Tottenham should pose a stern test of City’s title credentials after improving quickly under new manager Tim Sherwood.
Sherwood, who replaced the sacked Andre Villas-Boas in December, has masterminded five wins in his six league matches in charge and his team are desperate to avenge the embarrassing 6-0 loss they suffered against City at Eastlands in November.
“Hopefully we can put it right now. Everybody wants to be 110 percent for this game, “ Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen said.
“Everyone knows you have to be on your toes when you play City. We have to be at our top level and that is what we want to achieve.”
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)
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
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
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
more from Janine di Giovanni
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
