Robin van Persie, left, opens the scoring against Arsenal. Alex Livesey / Getty Images
Robin van Persie, left, opens the scoring against Arsenal. Alex Livesey / Getty Images
Robin van Persie, left, opens the scoring against Arsenal. Alex Livesey / Getty Images
Robin van Persie, left, opens the scoring against Arsenal. Alex Livesey / Getty Images

Old boy Robin van Persie shows Arsenal what they are missing


Richard Jolly
  • English
  • Arabic

MANCHESTER // Two goals and a man down, the visiting supporters broke into a chorus. "We want our Arsenal back," they sang. But their Arsenal, a man in keeping with the club's greatest traditions, was a reason for their defeat. Arsenal were beaten by their past.

All too predictably, Robin van Persie set Manchester United on their way to victory against his former team. Patrice Evra added to the Dutchman's third-minute goal before Jack Wilshere was dismissed but a reunion nevertheless revolved around Van Persie.

The scorer of 132 goals for Arsenal opted not to celebrate a first against them.

"He's done the right thing," said Sir Alex Ferguson. He behaved properly in front of goal, too, Van Persie latched on to Thomas Vermaelen's poor clearance to angle his shot past Vito Mannone, the former Arsenal striker benefiting from an error from his successor as captain.

The goal had its roots, however, in a right-wing break with Antonio Valencia deceiving Andre Santos with a deft flick to release Rafael da Silva to cross.

"It was a special day," said Van Persie. Had he scored a second, it would have been still more special.

Mannone flung himself to his right to palm away a shot by the Dutchman, supplied expertly by Wayne Rooney. Indeed, the Englishman should have doubled the lead. One stinging shot was parried by Mannone before he dragged a penalty wide after Santi Cazorla handled Ashley Young's cross.

United's only regret was their profligacy.

"We should have scored five or six," Ferguson said. Valencia and Van Persie were other culprits before the second goal came from a more unexpected source. For the second time in a month, the diminutive figure of Evra headed in.

The game's final goal was also its finest, a glorious but irrelevant strike by Cazorla, who curled a shot into the top corner.

"We had a lot of the ball but we were not very efficient in the final third," Wenger said. Their problems were compounded by their mistakes in defensive areas and the departure of the man who inherited Van Persie's No 10 shirt.

On the second game of his comeback, Jack Wilshere collected a second caution and was dismissed.

"It was not deserved," Wenger said. "He went for the ball." But he missed it and, like Tom Cleverley, had already received a final warning from Mike Dean, the referee. Ferguson promptly substituted his midfielder, while Wenger left his on, only to see him go off anyway.

Van Persie, too, diced with danger when he chopped down Bacary Sagna. Otherwise, however, he was not surprisingly outstanding.

"I thought Robin was fantastic," said Ferguson. And for Arsenal, there was an unfortunate inevitability about it.

Match info:

Burnley 0

Manchester United 2
Lukaku (22', 44')

Red card: Marcus Rashford (Man United)

Man of the match: Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

ZIMBABWE V UAE, ODI SERIES

All matches at the Harare Sports Club:

1st ODI, Wednesday - Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets

2nd ODI, Friday, April 12

3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14

4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16

UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed

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Pakistan Super League

Previous winners

2016 Islamabad United

2017 Peshawar Zalmi

2018 Islamabad United

2019 Quetta Gladiators

 

Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286

Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65

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 

Spare

Profile

Company name: Spare

Started: March 2018

Co-founders: Dalal Alrayes and Saurabh Shah

Based: UAE

Sector: FinTech

Investment: Own savings. Going for first round of fund-raising in March 2019

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

Karwaan

Producer: Ronnie Screwvala

Director: Akarsh Khurana

Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar

Rating: 4/5

The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800


Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder


Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm


Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm


Transmission: Eight-speed CVT


Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km

Key figures in the life of the fort

Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.

Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.

Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.

Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae

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)

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Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

The biog

Favourite book: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Favourite music: Classical

Hobbies: Reading and writing

 

The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo

Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm

Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km

Price: from Dh285,000

On sale: from January 2022 

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

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