LONDON // Goals from Jan Vertonghen and Jermain Defoe left Tottenham Hotspur on the cusp of the Europa League knockout stages as four other clubs maintained perfect starts on Thursday.
Fiorentina, Salzburg, Eintracht Frankfurt and Ludogorets joined Spurs on nine points from three games with a place in the last 32 beckoning.
Twice UEFA Cup winners Sevilla needed a late goal to take a point at Slovan Liberec but La Liga rivals Valencia continued their recovery after an opening defeat by thumping St Gallen 5-1.
Defoe, with his sixth Europa League goal in four games, equalled Martin Chivers’ club European record of 22 for Spurs with the second goal in a 2-0 win in Moldova over Sheriff Tiraspol.
Former England striker Chivers was part of Spurs’ UEFA Cup-winning side of 1972.
Spurs could have qualified for the last 32 with three group games still to play but needed Anzhi Makhachkala and Tromso to draw in the other Group K game. Anzhi won 1-0, though, to leave Spurs waiting a bit longer.
Vertonghen headed home Christian Eriksen’s 12th-minute cross and Defoe struck from 25 metres with 15 minutes remaining.
Substitute Victor Machin equalised two minutes from time as Sevilla salvaged a 1-1 draw against Slovan Liberec in the Czech Republic to stay top of Group H with seven points.
The hosts led through Michael Rabusic’s first-half goal but had goalkeeper Premysl Kovar dismissed on 78 minutes and Machin rounded his replacement Lukas Hrosso to level late on.
Valencia, UEFA Cup winners in 2004, ran riot in the first half against St Gallen at Mestalla, Argentine Federico Cartabia scoring two of four first-half goals.
The Spaniards moved on to six points in Group A, one behind Swansea City who conceded a penalty in stoppage time that secured Kuban Krasnodar a 1-1 draw in Wales.
Fiorentina, fresh from a remarkable fightback from 2-0 down to beat Juventus 4-2 in Serie A on Sunday, brushed aside Romania’s Pandurii 3-0 in Group E while Salzburg continue to impress.
They set a record of 31 games unbeaten in the Austrian Bundesliga at the weekend and got the better of a feisty Group C encounter with Standard Liege in which three players saw red.
Salzburg, who won 2-1 thanks to goals from Jonathan Soriano and Ramalho, had Sadio Mane sent off late in the first half, shortly after Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez was dismissed for Liege.
The Belgians were reduced to nine men on 67 minutes when Brazilian defender Kanu was shown a straight red.
Lazio relinquished top spot in Group J to Trabzonspor after the Italian side could only draw 0-0 away at Apollon Limassol. Trabzonspor, who eased to a 2-0 win at home over Legia Warsaw, have seven points to Lazio’s five.
A second-half goal from Clement Grenier handed Lyon their first Group I win after two draws, the French side edging Rijeka 1-0 to move on to five points, along with Real Betis who beat Vitoria Guimares by the same scoreline.
An extraordinary match in Salonika saw hosts PAOK concede twice in the first 21 minutes, miss two penalties with Miroslav Stoch wasting both and still run out 3-2 winners to take control of Group L.
Haifa were 2-0 up through Dino Ndlovu and Eyal Golasa before Miguel Vitor pulled one back.
Stoch had his first spot-kick saved by Bojan Saranov before atoning by setting up Sotiris Ninis to level.
Slovakian international Stoch then had another penalty saved by Saranov just before halftime but his blushes were spared when Dimitros Salpingidis volleyed in the winner at the near post on 66 minutes.
Eintracht, 2-0 winners at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv, hold a five-point lead in Group F while Bulgarian champions Ludogorets won 1-0 at Chernomorets Odessa to lead PSV Eindhoven by five points in Group B.
Other scores: Dionamo Zagreb 0-0 PSV Eindhoven // Eflsborg 1-2 Esbjerg // Wigan 1-1 Rubin Kazan // Zulte-Waregem 1-3 Maribor // Paços de Ferreira 0-2 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk // Bordeaux 2-1 Apoel // Dynamo Kiev 3-0 FC Thun // Racing Genk 1-1 Rapid Vienna // Freiburg 1-1 Estoril // Shakhter Karagandy 1-1 AZ Alkmaar
The view from The National
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
Schedule:
Pakistan v Sri Lanka:
28 Sep-2 Oct, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi
6-10 Oct, 2nd Test (day-night), Dubai
13 Oct, 1st ODI, Dubai
16 Oct, 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi
18 Oct, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi
20 Oct, 4th ODI, Sharjah
23 Oct, 5th ODI, Sharjah
26 Oct, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
27 Oct, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
29 Oct, 3rd T20I, Lahore
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
