Tottenham Hotspur closed in on a place in the group stage of the Europa League on Thursday after coming from behind to win 2-1 away to AEL Limassol in Cyprus in their play-off first leg.
The north London side are looking to reach the group stage for the fourth season running, and late goals by Roberto Soldado and Harry Kane have them in the driving seat ahead of next week’s return at White Hart Lane.
However, their fellow Premier League side Hull City have work to do after losing 1-0 away to Belgian Cup holders Lokeren.
Tottenham’s quest did not get off to the best of starts at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca.
Spanish striker Adrian Sardinero opened the scoring in the 14th minute for AEL, who finished second in the Cypriot top flight last season and parachuted into the Europa League after losing to Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League third qualifying round.
Slack play in midfield by Paulinho created the chance for Sardinero to run through and beat Hugo Lloris, sparking wild celebrations from the home fans.
Paulinho was one of those brought into the starting line-up by Spurs coach Mauricio Pochettino as seven changes were made from Saturday’s 1-0 win at West Ham United.
Questions have been asked about how seriously the new Spurs coach will take the Europa League, and his team looked second best for long spells.
However, they were rescued in the final 20 minutes by another two players promoted to the starting line-up in the heat of the Mediterranean.
Kane saw a shot turned onto the woodwork by home goalkeeper Karim Fegrouch before Soldado got the equaliser in the 74th minute.
This time Kane fed substitute Erik Lamela, whose terrific pass was emphatically hammered home by the Spanish striker.
And Spurs completed the turnaround with 10 minutes to go thanks to another piece of inspiration from Lamela and a finish from the 21-year-old Kane.
“I think it was a very tough game, because the conditions were difficult and the weather was difficult,” Pochettino said, referring to a bobbly, cut-up pitch and high temperatures.
“I’m happy with the performance. In the end 2-1 for us is an important result,” added Pochettino, who was also delighted with the influence off the bench of his fellow Argentine Lamela.
“We need him to look forward, believe in his skill and condition and work very, very hard. With confidence and time he will show his value.
Hull are appearing in Europe for the first time but their manager Steve Bruce made it clear where his priorities lie as he made nine changes to the team that won at Queens Park Rangers on the opening day of the Premier League season.
Defender James Chester and goalkeeper Allan McGregor kept their places, but the latter was guilty of a mistake that gifted the only goal of the game at the Daknamstadion to Hans Vanaken just before the hour mark.
The Scottish international somehow managed to pass the ball straight to his opponent, and Vanaken rounded the Tigers’ stopper before rolling the ball into an empty net.
Yannick Sagbo and David Meyler both squandered openings for Hull, who face a tricky test in the second leg if they are to make it to the group phase.
Among the other winners on the night were Spanish sides Villarreal and Real Sociedad, Borussia Monchengladbach and PSV Eindhoven, who all joined Inter Milan, 3-0 victors away to Stjarnan of Iceland on Wednesday.
Hard-luck Champions League cast-offs Legia Warsaw, whose illegal substution late against Celtic in the second qualifying round while leading 6-1 led to their Champions League disqualification, began their second-tier campaign in Europe with a 1-0 win over Aktobe Lento.
Belgians Club Brugge (v Grasshoppers Zurich), FC Zurich (v Spartak Trnava) and Dinamo Zagreb (v Petrolul Ploiesti) were among the other notable away victors.
However, French duo Lyon and Saint-Etienne face uphill struggles to progress after being beaten by Romanians Astra Giurgiu (2-1 at home) and Turks Karabukspor (1-0 away) respectively.
The individual performance of the evening came from Swedish international forward Marcus Berg, who scored all four goals for Panathinaikos as they beat Mdtjylland of Denmark 4-1 in the Greek capital.
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Uefa Nations League
League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey
League C:
Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway, Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania
League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Silkhaus%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Aahan%20Bhojani%20and%20Ashmin%20Varma%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Property%20technology%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247.75%20million%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nuwa%20Capital%2C%20VentureSouq%2C%20Nordstar%2C%20Global%20Founders%20Capital%2C%20Yuj%20Ventures%20and%20Whiteboard%20Capital%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
INFO
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
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
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"
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Asian Cup 2019
Quarter-final
UAE v Australia, Friday, 8pm, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
