West Ham United moved closer to Premier League safety and kept Sunderland in the relegation zone with a 2-1 away win on Monday.
Andy Carroll, formerly a striker with Sunderland’s arch north-east rivals Newcastle, headed West Ham into an early lead and Mohamed Diame made it 2-0 to the London club shortly after half-time.
Sunderland substitute Adam Johnson pulled a goal back for the hosts in the 65th minute to the joy of the Stadium of Light crowd but they were unable to add to that.
Victory took 11th placed West Ham onto 37 points, three short of the traditional survival mark of 40, but the result meant Sunderland stayed second bottom on 25 points, four shy of safety with eight games remaining.
The goal was only the second scored by Carroll, a £15 million (Dh91.8m) signing from Liverpool, this season.
Nevertheless West Ham manager Sam Allardyce suggested that, as a classic old-fashioned centre forward, Carroll could yet add something to England manager Roy Hodgson’s squad for this June’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
“If you want alternatives, Andy gives you one,” Allardyce told Sky Sports.
“He’s unique in many ways. Not many can receive the ball and head a ball as good as he does, especially with quality balls in the box ... If he plays every week, scores goals, hopefully he’ll go to Brazil.”
Allardyce also thanked club co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold for standing by him rather than changing managers as have several top-flight sides this term.
“From our point of view, the co-chairmen have always been solid and never made me feel under any pressure.
“We’ve had an eight-game run and got 15 points, which is fantastic at this stage of the season. It’s got us out of trouble and we will now strive to see how many more points we can pick up.”
Sunderland manager Gus Poyet insisted his side hadn’t played like a team threatened with the drop.
“It’s difficult to accept, sometimes when you see a team at the bottom they have no spirit, heart and give up. I don’t think it’s possible to see my team giving up. “
The game was only nine minutes old when Carroll rose highest to head in Mark Noble’s corner.
But Sunderland were convinced they should have had a penalty when West Ham midfielder Kevin Nolan appeared to handle inside his own area.
But referee Howard Webb rejected Sunderland’s pleas for a spot-kick.
“It was clear, deliberate,” said Poyet. “He (Nolan) tried to play the ball with his hand.
“You would need to ask the referee. It was easy to see but that’s the way it’s been,” the former Uruguay midfielder added.
“I hope we get some luck; a decision from the ref or a deflected shot goes in. It’s about winning now. We have a chance and will go to the end.”
West Ham, whose fans booed Allardyce after the end of their last game despite a 2-1 win against Hull at Upton Park, doubled their lead five minutes after the break when Diame’s deflected shot from 12 yards out beat Vito Mannone, the Sunderland goalkeeper.
Mannone though kept Sunderland in the match by preventing West Ham going 3-0 up when he turned away Stewart Downing’s shot after a ball over the top left him clean through on goal.
The worth of that save became clear when Johnson, who’d already looked sharp during his few minutes on the field, gave Sunderland renewed hope.
Connor Wickham flicked the ball to Craig Gardner and his resulting through ball was struck into the top corner from just inside the penalty area by Johnson.
Sunderland nearly made it 2-2 when West Ham keeper Adrian couldn’t hold South Korean midfielder Ki Sung-yeung’s low strike from 20 yards.
The Spaniard redeemed himself though by blocking Wickham’s follow-up effort.
Sunderland then pushed everyone forward, including Mannone, but couldn’t find an equalising goal.
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MATCH INFO
Aston Villa 1 (Konsa 63')
Sheffield United 0
Red card: Jon Egan (Sheffield United)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C200 Coupe
Price, base: Dh201,153
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 204hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 300Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
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
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The specs: 2018 BMW X2 and X3
Price, as tested: Dh255,150 (X2); Dh383,250 (X3)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder (X2); 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six-cylinder (X3)
Power 192hp @ 5,000rpm (X2); 355hp @ 5,500rpm (X3)
Torque: 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (X2); 500Nm @ 1,520rpm (X3)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic (X2); Eight-speed automatic (X3)
Fuel consumption, combined: 5.7L / 100km (X2); 8.3L / 100km (X3)
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2018 Audi RS5
Price, base: Dh359,200
Engine: 2.9L twin-turbo V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 450hp at 5,700rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 1,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Roll of honour: Who won what in 2018/19?
West Asia Premiership: Winners – Bahrain; Runners-up – Dubai Exiles
UAE Premiership: Winners – Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners-up – Jebel Ali Dragons
Dubai Rugby Sevens: Winners – Dubai Hurricanes; Runners-up – Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Conference: Winners – Dubai Tigers; Runners-up – Al Ain Amblers
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
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Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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On sale: now
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
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
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
