Arsenal's 2-1 win at Newcastle United moved them to within four points of Premier League leaders Chelsea, but Arsene Wenger believes that another statistic is equally relevant.
Even after Chelsea complete their next match, at Hull City on Sunday, Jose Mourinho’s team will still have played one match fewer than Arsenal and that is a significant factor, according to Wenger.
“Chelsea have good security at the moment. I feel they have enough of a cushion to be quite serene,” said the Arsenal manager. “We have Manchester City in front of us and behind us it is tight, as well. The only thing we can do is to win our games.
“I think Chelsea have too much security. I just think at the moment we are not concluding, we are in a fight. You have seen the game today. In every game, we need to turn up and fight until the last minute to get the points.
“That’s what we have to do: just go for the next game and win it. Look, the players want to do as well as they can. We know we have a fight first to be in the top four. We will go step by step, game by game.”
Arsenal were forced to battle until the final seconds of their latest victory, on Saturday, which was their seventh in succession against Newcastle.
Once again, they were indebted to their striker Olivier Giroud, who scored twice in the opening 28 minutes to take his tally for the season to 17 despite missing the first three months through injury.
Giroud faded, along with most of his teammates who had played at AS Monaco in mid-week, when Arsenal crashed out of the Champions League on away goals despite a 2-0 victory at the Stade Louis II.
Moussa Sissoko sparked a second-half revival by Newcastle by coolly side-footing home Remy Cabella’s cross in the 48th minute and Arsenal’s winning run, which now stands at six league games, came under threat.
“We had an outstanding first half going forward. We were very fluent and created chance after chance,” Wenger added. “Then the last 40 minutes were difficult because our legs had gone a little bit and Newcastle played well. Now we have a break when everybody goes on international duty and I hope they all come back fit.”
The international break is of less concern to the Newcastle manager John Carver, who is already looking ahead two weeksto the derby game at Sunderland.
“It’s good to put in a good performance in the game before the derby,” he said. “Our preparation for that game starts now because we’ve not had a win against Sunderland for a while.”
Carver felt that his side’s second-half display was the perfect response to former Manchester United player Phil Neville’s claim that his players had been “playing in flip-flops” in last weekend’s 3-0 loss at Everton.
Neville tweeted during this game that Newcastle were putting in a “brilliant performance”, which Carver said was “nice”, adding: “I didn’t realise that had happened.”
But he added: “There certainly wasn’t anyone on the beach with their flip-flops on, that’s for sure.
“After the comments last week – which were ridiculous, from ex-players – every single one of the players, and I include the lads who came on the pitch as second-half substitutes, gave everything for this football club.
“It showed that they are not on their holidays yet.”
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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
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James
Three and a half stars
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
