Tottenham close gap on Chelsea, Arsenal drop out of top four: Premier League round-up

A round-up of the reports and results from this weekend’s Premier League action. All kick-off times UAE.

SUNDAY

Tottenham Hotspur 3 Everton 2

Tottenham: Kane (20', 56'), Alli (90'+2)

Everton: Lukaku (81'), E Valencia (90'+3)

• Harry Kane extended his hot streak with a blistering double as Tottenham Hotspur beat Everton 3-2 to close the gap on leaders Chelsea to seven points.

Kane opened the scoring with a thunderous first-half strike at White Hart Lane and netted again after the break to take his goal tally to 24 in 28 games this season.

Everton forward Romelu Lukaku, Kane’s closest rival in the race to finish as Premier League top scorer, got one back before Dele Alli struck for Spurs in the closing moments.

There was still time for Enner Valencia to score Everton’s second, but Tottenham held on for a third victory in their last four league games.

Kane’s prolific form puts a little more pressure on runaway leaders Chelsea, who must win at West Ham on Monday to restore their 10-point advantage.

* Agence France-Presse

Still to come:

Sunderland v Manchester City (8pm)

MONDAY

West Ham United v Chelsea (midnight)

SATURDAY:

Manchester United 1 Bournemouth 1

Man United: Rojo (23')

Bournemouth: King (40' pen)

Red card: Surman (45')

• Manchester United spurned a chance to move into the top four after striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed a penalty in a 1-1 draw against 10-man Bournemouth.

The result left United in sixth position on 49 points while Bournemouth, who had Andrew Surman sent off on the stroke of half-time for charging at Ibrahimovic, stay 14th with 27 points.

Argentina defender Marcos Rojo fired the home side ahead in the 23rd minute with his first Premier League goal before Joshua King, a Manchester United academy product, levelled against the run of play with a 40th-minute penalty.

Bournemouth goalkeeper Artur Boruc shone with a string of excellent saves, denying a below-par Ibrahimovic three times before he parried the Swede’s feeble spot-kick after Adam Smith handled Paul Pogba’s acrobatic cutback.

* Reuters

Liverpool 3 Arsenal 1

Liverpool: Firmino (9'), Mané (40'), Wijnaldum (90'+1)

Arsenal: Welbeck (57')

• Liverpool punished Arsene Wenger’s selection gamble with a crucial 3-1 win over Arsenal that saw them replace their opponents in one of the coveted top four places.

Wenger sprang a major surprise by leaving Alexis Sanchez on the bench and the Chile forward was badly missed as Arsenal were blown away in the first half at Anfield.

With Mesut Ozil also absent, due to illness, Arsenal were ill-equipped to match Jurgen Klopp’s fired-up side, who took the lead in the ninth minute when Roberto Firmino met Sadio Mane’s cross with a cool finish at the far post after sloppy Arsenal defending.

There was worse to come for Wenger in the 40th minute as Firmino teed up the unmarked Mane and the Senegal winger drilled his shot past Petr Cech.

Wenger sent on Sanchez at half-time and inevitably he made an impact, sending an astute pass through to Danny Welbeck, whose deft chip reduced the deficit in the 57th minute.

But Georginio Wijnaldum finished a lethal Liverpool counter attack in the 90th minute to condemn Arsenal to a third defeat in their last four league matches.

* Agence France-Presse

Leicester City 3 Hull City 1

Leicester: Fuchs (27'), Mahrez (59'), Huddlestone (90' og)

Hull: Clucas (14')

• Leicester City made it two wins from two since the sacking of Claudio Ranieri with a 3-1 victory over fellow strugglers Hull City.

Hull, who beat champions Leicester on the opening day of the season, took the lead when Sam Clucas bundled home after Kasper Schmeichel could only parry Kamil Grosicki’s cross in the 14th minute.

Buoyed by their impressive 3-1 victory over Liverpool on Monday, Leicester equalised in the 27th minute through defender Christian Fuchs who exchanged passes with Jamie Vardy before stroking home.

Riyad Mahrez scored Leicester’s second in the 57th minute before Tom Huddlestone’s own goal in the 91st minute ended a good week for Leicester. The champions move up to 15th on 27 points, six points above 19th-placed Hull.

* Reuters

Stoke City 2 Middlesbrough 0

Stoke: Arnautovic (29', 42')

• Marko Arnautovic’s first-half double gave Stoke City a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough and sent the visitors into the relegation zone for the first time this season.

A piece of brilliance from Arnautovic put Stoke ahead as he flicked Glenn Whelan’s long ball past two defenders with a superb first touch before skipping past the onrushing Victor Valdes and slotting the ball high into the net.

Peter Crouch rose highest to meet Whelan’s corner and head the ball into the path of Arnautovic who flicked it past Valdes to double Stoke’s lead in the 42nd minute.

Middlesbrough have now failed to score in four successive games and their winless run in the league was extended to 10 matches.

* Reuters

Swansea City 3 Burnley 2

Swansea: Llorente (12', 90'+2), Olsson (69')

Burnley: Gray (20' pen, 61')

• Fernando Llorente proved Swansea’s match-winner again in a thrilling 3-2 victory over Burnley after referee Anthony Taylor had taken centre stage by awarding one of the most controversial penalties of the season.

Spain striker Llorente, who has scored precious goals this season against Liverpool and Crystal Palace, headed home a 90th-minute winner to ease Swansea’s relegation fears.

Earlier, Andre Gray’s double, either side of goals from Llorente and Martin Olsson, looked like handing Burnley some rare away-day joy.

But the contest will unfortunately be remembered for the 20th-minute penalty Burnley were awarded when George Boyd’s corner escaped everyone before striking the arm of Burnley striker Sam Vokes.

Television replays showed Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson appealing for handball against Vokes, and there did not appear to be any other offence in a congested six-yard box.

But Taylor incensed Swansea players by pointing to the spot and Gray’s straight-down-the-middle kick cancelled out Llorente’s 12th-minute header.

* Press Association

Watford 3 Southampton 4

Watford: Deeney (4'), Okaka (79'), Doucouré (90'+4)

Southampton: Tadic (28'), Redmond (45'+2, 86'), Gabbiadini (83')

• Manolo Gabbiadini became the first Southampton player to score in his first three Premier League matches for the club as his goal helped down Watford 4-3.

The Italian took his tally to six goals in four games in all competitions since joining Southampton from Napoli in the January transfer window following a seven-goal thriller at Vicarage Road.

Nathan Redmond added two for Southampton and Dusan Tadic also scored while Troy Deeney, Stefano Okaka and Abdoulaye Doucoure netted for Watford as both sides remained in mid-table.

An already thrilling game exploded into life with four goals in the final 10 minutes — including Gabbiadini’s historic strike.

* Agence France-Presse

West Bromwich Albion 0 Crystal Palace 2

Crystal Palace: Zaha (55'), Townsend (84')

• Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend scored brilliant goals for Crystal Palace as Sam Allardyce’s strugglers ruined West Brom counterpart Tony Pulis’s 300th match as a Premier League manager with a 2-0 win.

Albion’s five-match unbeaten run came to an abrupt conclusion 10 minutes after half-time once Zaha controlled a superb long diagonal ball from Yohan Cabaye on his chest before striking a fine angled finish past Ben Foster.

England international Townsend then doubled the lead, going on a mazy run before a deflected shot that secured a second straight League win for Allardyce’s men and moved them out of the bottom three.

Palace deserved the victory, having already enjoyed the best chance in the first half when Chris Brunt was forced to nod Christian Benteke’s goal-bound header off the line, with Salomon Rondon’s appeal for a penalty being Albion’s best shout.

* Reuters

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MATCH INFO

Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')

Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')

Abu Dhabi GP schedule

Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm

Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm

Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm

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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

ESSENTIALS

The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.

The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.

RESULTS

6.30pm: Longines Conquest Classic Dh150,000 Maiden 1,200m.
Winner: Halima Hatun, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer).

7.05pm: Longines Gents La Grande Classique Dh155,000 Handicap 1,200m.
Winner: Moosir, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.

7.40pm: Longines Equestrian Collection Dh150,000 Maiden 1,600m.
Winner: Mazeed, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

8.15pm: Longines Gents Master Collection Dh175,000 Handicap.
Winner: Thegreatcollection, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.

8.50pm: Longines Ladies Master Collection Dh225,000 Conditions 1,600m.
Winner: Cosmo Charlie, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.

9.25pm: Longines Ladies La Grande Classique Dh155,000 Handicap 1,600m.
Winner: Secret Trade, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.

10pm: Longines Moon Phase Master Collection Dh170,000 Handicap 2,000m.
Winner:

Indoor cricket in a nutshell

Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side

8 There are eight players per team

9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.

5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls

4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs

B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run

C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs

D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

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

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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.”