When Steve McClaren agreed to take over the manager’s job at Newcastle United last summer, it is fair to assume he knew, judging by what had gone before him, that he would be in for a roller-coaster ride.
An understatement if ever there was one.
Fresh off their fantastic win at home to Liverpool the previous week, Newcastle travelled to the form team in the Premier League this past weekend to face a Tottenham Hotspur side who were unbeaten in the league since the opening day of the season.
It looked like the Liverpool win would be the zenith of their December when Eric Dier headed in a Christian Eriksen corner to give Spurs a first-half lead. Normal service resumed.
Not quite.
White Hart Lane has been a happy hunting ground for Newcastle in recent seasons, and so it proved again on Sunday as substitutes Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ayoz Perez squeezed in goals to record a third successive win in North London for the team from England’s North-east.
The wins over two top-four challenging sides has propelled Newcastle out of the relegation zone and defied a certain logic to the truly shambolic displays in previous hammerings to Crystal Palace (5-1), Leicester City (3-0), Sunderland (3-0) and Manchester City (6-1).
Stop the ride! I want to get off! McClaren and Newcastle’s seasons have a few more twists and turns to go yet.
READ ALSO: Tottenham's silver lining in the cloud after defeat to Newcastle
On your ’ead, son
Strikers live to score goals. It is what they are paid, handsomely so, to do on a consistent basis.
They will take them anyway they come: headers, volleys, two-yard tap-ins or 30-yard screamers. They will always try to claim a goal, even if they are not necessarily in the general vicinity of the ball.
No one here or at the dubious goals panel would dream of taking away Kelechi Iheanacho’s goal against Swansea City on Saturday.
Manchester City’s Nigerian striker did his best to make a nuisance of himself as Yaya Toure strode purposefully towards the Swansea goal before cutting in from the right and unleashing a venomous left-foot shot.
Iheanacho, no doubt thinking that getting a Toure piledriver full on in the face on a cold, December afternoon in Manchester might leave a mark, wisely turned his back. The ball cracked the back of his head and flew into the top corner for a quite spectacular goal.
There is no telling where the ball would have ended up if it were not for the intervention of Iheanacho’s skull, but one thing is for sure – the 19-year-old striker will be claiming he meant it.
READ ALSO: Manchester City make a habit of winning late
Take a bow, Giroud
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said his French striker, Oliver Giroud, deserves more respect after blasting home his ninth league goal of the season against Aston Villa on Sunday, from the penalty spot.
This followed his midweek heroics against Olympiakos when a fine hat-trick propelled Arsenal into the last 16 of the Uefa Champions League for a 16th consecutive season.
So kudos where kudos is due. That goalscoring form has taken Arsenal to the top of the league table and into the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club competition.
Giroud is the toast of the Emirates Stadium, and rightly so.
sluckings@thenational.ae
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Bio
Age: 25
Town: Al Diqdaqah – Ras Al Khaimah
Education: Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering
Favourite colour: White
Favourite place in the UAE: Downtown Dubai
Favourite book: A Life in Administration by Ghazi Al Gosaibi.
First owned baking book: How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The rules of the road keeping cyclists safe
Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads
Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike
They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users
Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance
They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 2 (Van Dijk 18', 24')
Brighton 1 (Dunk 79')
Red card: Alisson (Liverpool)
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
