Norwich City manager Neil Adams admitted his side came through a stern test of their promotion credentials after after they beat Brentford 3-0 away on Tuesday to climb to the top of the Championship.
Second-half goals from Alexander Tettey and Cameron Jerome’s double lifted the relegated Premier League club of last season two points above Nottingham Forest – for 24 hours at least – but Brentford will wonder how they came away with nothing.
The newly-promoted hosts would have gone above Norwich with a win and could have been three or four goals ahead after a one-sided first half.
But City somehow held out until half-time, and then broke away ruthlessly to snatch the points after the interval.
Adams said: “We’ve been tested to the limit, and it was a good test of character.
“I said at half-time I felt we could win the game and our quality would shine through.
“It’s a bit unfair on Brentford, it looks like they’ve been battered but it was a lot closer than that.
“We’ve scored three different goals which is very pleasing, and it’s nice that the goals are being spread around.
“You have to start the season well so from our point of view we are delighted with our start.
“You don’t get anything in September but if you ask me where I’d rather be, it’s at the top.”
Watford moved into second, perhaps also only briefly, with a win of their own as Matej Vydra’s second-half penalty secured a 1-0 win at Blackpool.
Substitute Nile Ranger wasted a glorious chance of his own to level for Blackpool from the spot with 10 minutes to go.
“This victory is very good news, of course but we have to improve on certain things. We have to analyse them and find solutions,” said Watford assistant Ruben Martinez, speaking as manager Oscar Garcia was taken to the hospital with chest pains on Monday.
“In the last game we started with 3-5-2 but after 20 minutes we changed and we decided to take a similar style for this game.
“At the moment we don’t want to have a lot of change. This is a difficult week because we have three matches and we want to work step-by-step.
“It is important for Matej [Vydra] that he plays like a second striker to score goals. It is very important for his confidence, but the first step is to work for the team and after that the goals will come.”
Elsewhere, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Charlton filled out the fourth and fifth places in the table, playing to a 1-1 draw as Danny Bath equalised and grabbed Wolves a point after Andre Bikey-Amougou put the Londoners ahead.
Caretaker manager Neil Redfearn increased his chances of becoming the next full-time manager of Leeds by overseeing a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth, where Andrew Surman put the hosts in front early on but United responded through goals from Souleymane Doukara, Giuseppe Bellusci and Mirco Antenucci.
Cardiff City continued a troubling slide for manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, down to 17th, with an unimpressive display at home in a 1-0 loss to Middlesbrough.
Cardiff were booed off at half-time and full-time, but Solskjaer made the effort to applaud the home support, taking to the pitch as the teams walked off to clap towards all sides of the ground.
He said: “I have to praise the fans for what they did during the game, they helped the boys.
“They are entitled to stay behind and be disappointed. We are every bit as disappointed, but they did everything I could have asked from them during the 90 minutes.”
Middlesbrough ended the night eighth in the table.
Just of ahead of them Reading and Sheffield Wednesday, sixth and seventh in the Championship, both came away with three points.
Steve May and Jeremy Helan lifted Wednesday over Birmingham City away, while Simon Cox’s 84th-minute goal to claim a double helped Reading escape a comeback bid by Millwall. The hosts had gone ahead 2-0 in the first 15 minutes on Cox’s opener and a Nick Blackman penalty, but Ricardo Fuller and Mark Beevers each netted on either side of half-time to level.
Bolton Wanderers escaped relegation territory for the time being, as a Joe Mason second-half hat-trick made the difference in a wild 3-2 win over Rotherham nited. After Mason’s first equaliser at the 60th minute, he put Bolton ahead 2-1 20 minutes later. Two minutes after that, though, Jordan Bowery drew the visitors even before Mason completed the hat trick another two minutes later with the winner.
Jonathan Parr and Daryl Murphy snagged a pair of goals for Ipswich Town inside the last 21 minutes for a 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town played to a scoreless draw with Wigan Athletic, as well.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
THE BIO
Ambition: To create awareness among young about people with disabilities and make the world a more inclusive place
Job Title: Human resources administrator, Expo 2020 Dubai
First jobs: Co-ordinator with Magrudy Enterprises; HR coordinator at Jumeirah Group
Entrepreneur: Started his own graphic design business
Favourite singer: Avril Lavigne
Favourite travel destination: Germany and Saudi Arabia
Family: Six sisters
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
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
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Company%20Profile
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The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
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House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Khalid%20Fahad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Shaima%20Al%20Tayeb%2C%20Wafa%20Muhamad%2C%20Hamss%20Bandar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
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MATCH INFO
Argentina 47 (Tries: Sanchez, Tuculet (2), Mallia (2), De La Fuente, Bertranou; Cons: Sanchez 5, Urdapilleta)
United States 17 (Tries: Scully (2), Lasike; Cons: MacGinty)