Chelsea’s players were praised for their resilience after emerging from a turbulent week with an unexpected draw at Manchester City, as temporary head coach Calum McFarlane lauded the character shown following Enzo Maresca’s sudden departure.
Enzo Fernandez struck a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser to secure a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium, denting City’s Premier League title challenge and offering Chelsea a measure of stability amid uncertainty off the pitch.
Tijjani Reijnders had earlier put the hosts ahead, seemingly setting City on course for a hard-fought victory as they looked to close the gap on leaders Arsenal.
Instead, Chelsea left Manchester with a point few had predicted after a chaotic few days that began with Maresca’s exit on New Year’s Day. McFarlane, the club’s under-21 coach, was thrust into the role of interim manager and is expected to stand aside for Liam Rosenior ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Fulham.
Rosenior, currently in charge of Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg, is reported to have travelled to London on Sunday to hold talks with the club’s hierarchy. Chelsea declined to comment on the reports, but McFarlane acknowledged that change is imminent.
Despite the uncertainty, the interim coach oversaw an assured display against Pep Guardiola’s side and was quick to shift the focus onto his players.
“There’s a lot of change that’s gone on,” McFarlane said. “Enzo was incredibly successful with this group and some of them were shocked by the decision. So the character they’ve shown in the last two days, and the character they’ve shown today, has been outstanding.
“Everyone thought we were coming here to lose. No one thought we stood a chance. But we knew the character and the talent in this group.”
McFarlane highlighted the leadership of several senior figures, including Reece James, Tosin Adarabioyo and Fernandez, who scored the equaliser deep into added time. “They’ve really dragged the group together,” he said. “I can’t speak highly enough about the characters in the group.”
Asked about reports suggesting he could move to Strasbourg should Rosenior take charge at Stamford Bridge, McFarlane played down the speculation. “That’s the first I’ve heard of that,” he said. “When I first took this job I was told I would take the Manchester City game. There’s a chance the new manager will be in on Monday.”
For City, the draw was another setback following a goalless stalemate at Sunderland in midweek and leaves Guardiola’s side six points behind Arsenal. The afternoon was further complicated by injuries to defenders Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias, adding to an already lengthy list that includes John Stones.
“We have a lot of injuries,” Guardiola said. “It’s the situation but we stay strong and we will find a solution.”
Guardiola felt his side were ultimately punished for their lack of ruthlessness. “We were extraordinary in all departments except scoring,” he said. “In the second half they had nothing to lose and at the end they found their reward.”
Liverpool injury crisis continues
Arne Slot said he felt unable to risk Hugo Ekitike in Liverpool’s dramatic 2-2 draw at Fulham with his attacking options stretched thin.
The striker had an MRI scan before travelling to London which revealed a minor issue and left Slot feeling he had no choice but to leave out the 23-year-old and start instead with Cody Gakpo up front.
Deprived of his three main goalscoring threats, his team looked limp in attack and a pale impression of their best.
It was Gakpo’s goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time that looked to have earned Liverpool a valuable if unearned comeback victory at Craven Cottage and put them in a strong position in the race for the Premier League’s top four, until Fulham’s Harrison Reed struck one of the goals of the season seconds later to deny the champions.
Slot was already without Mohamed Salah, who is at the Africa Cup of Nations, and the injured Alexander Isak.
“He felt something during the training session so he went for an MRI scan,” said Slot. “We got the result when we were flying so we were hoping it was just DOMS [delayed-onset muscle soreness]."
Florian Wirtz was passed fit and scored Liverpool’s equaliser to make it 1-1 in the second half, finishing well after Conor Bradley’s mazy run. Harry Wilson had earlier given Fulham the lead.
There would be late drama as though as first Gakpo turned the ball in via his thigh from a couple of yards out to seemingly win it, before substitute Reed unleashed an outrageous 30-yard drive into the top corner in seventh minute of added time.
Fulham boss Marco Silva reflected on a match he felt his team ought to have won.
“It feels strange to be honest,” he said. “I think we could win the game. We were better in the first half, we controlled Liverpool.”
'Outstanding' Thiago nets hat-trick
Brentford head coach Keith Andrews believes Igor Thiago’s form means he deserves to be mentioned alongside some of Europe’s top strikers.
The 24-year-old’s first Premier League hat-trick in the 4-2 win at Everton means only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe and Bayern Munich’s England captain Harry Kane have scored more in Europe’s top five leagues this season.
After ending a six-match drought in style, he needs just two more goals to become the highest-scoring Brazilian in a single Premier League campaign.
“Not bad, is it? I thought the finishes today were outstanding, really clinical, outstanding, calm, confident,” said Andrews, whose side are now within four points of fourth place.
A mistake by James Tarkowski led to Thiago’s opener, a lovely cushioned volley, and Nathan Collins then got in front of the centre-back to nod home Brentford’s first goal from a corner in 96 attempts this season.
Thiago scored his second in a two-on-one and although Beto pulled one back, the Brentford striker completed his hat-trick to ensure Thierno Barry’s added-time goal had no significance.
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
FA Cup quarter-final draw
The matches will be played across the weekend of 21 and 22 March
Sheffield United v Arsenal
Newcastle v Manchester City
Norwich v Derby/Manchester United
Leicester City v Chelsea
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
Everton%20Fixtures
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Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Palestine and Israel
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