DUBAI // Speaking ahead of last night's Etisalat Cup game, Quique Sanchez Flores had hoped his Al Ahli team would continue from where they left off last season, when they remained unbeaten in their final nine matches.
They managed to keep that streak going, but lost their cool finishing the game with nine men after Abdulaziz Hussain and Grafite saw red. Ahli could have won the game after taking the lead with just 25 seconds on the clock; Luis Jimenez, who had turned down interest from several Italian Serie A clubs in the summer to stay on in Dubai, caught the Shabab defence unaware.
Hussain's expulsion in the 74th minute, however, left them a man short and Shabab took advantage, equalising seven minutes later through Edgar Bruno.
The Ahli captain Grafite was then given his marching orders in the 90th minute after roughing up Essa Mohammed with an extended arm.
Flores must have surely been disappointed with the end after the stunning start his team made. Just a couple of touches following the kick off, Grafite raced towards Shabab's territory and flicked the ball for Jimenez, who blasted it home.
Shabab should have equalised in the 12th minute when they earned a penalty following Yousif Al Sayed's handball; the Ahli defender had failed to move his hand away from the path of Luiz Henrique's header. Ciel, however, blasted the penalty straight into the post, giving the visitors a huge reprieve.
That miss was the only blemish in Ciel's bustling performance in the first session. He was clearly the best man on the pitch, running through and around Ahli's defences. Shabab's two new Brazilian recruits, Henrique and Bruno, put in plenty of hard yards as well and the home side gradually established their control over the proceedings.
They kept creating opportunities, including the one in the 35th minute when Bruno headed Ciel's free-kick towards the goal, but Obaid Al Taweela, the Ahli goalkeeper, showed good anticipation.
Despite the pressure created by Shabab's Brazilian trio, the visitors managed to take their lead into the break, their defence standing strong despite missing regulars Basheer Saeed and Ahmed Salem to injuries.
Coming back after the break, Shabab maintained their aggressive stance and the scores could have been level at 1-1 in the 50th minute if Bruno had done better with Henrique's cross. Instead, he blasted it way over.
Ahli had another escape in the 77th minute when Ciel's viciously curling free kick just missed the target, but four minutes later Shabab were finally rewarded for their efforts when Bruno managed to nudge Ciel's delivery into the nets.
Meanwhile, Al Wasl started their post Diego Maradona era with a convincing 4-2 win over promoted side Kalba at Al Ahli last night despite losing defender Ali Mohammed Abdelrahman to a red card in the 10th minute.
Three minutes later, Lucas Neill put them ahead, but Adil Saqr Abdullah equalised for Kalba in the 22nd minute. Five minutes later, Emiliano Alfaro converted a penalty to put Wasl back in the lead, but Gregory Dufrennes equalised on the hour mark through the game's second penalty.
Wasl received another penalty in the 85th minute and Mariano Donda converted successfully to make it 4-2, nine minutes after Alfaro had nudged in Wasl's third of the night.
In last night's other game, Al Shaab made a disappointing return to action following their promotion to the Pro League, losing 2-0 to Dubai in an Etisalat Cup match at the Sharjah Stadium last night. Richard Portas truck the opener for the hosts in the ninth minute. Simon Feindouno made it 2-0 in the 85th minute with a crisp, low finish after weaving his way around two defenders.
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
RESULT
Manchester City 1 Sheffield United 0
Man City: Jesus (9')
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
ORDER OF PLAY ON SHOW COURTS
Centre Court - 4pm (UAE)
Gael Monfils (15) v Kyle Edmund
Karolina Pliskova (3) v Magdalena Rybarikova
Dusan Lajovic v Roger Federer (3)
Court 1 - 4pm
Adam Pavlasek v Novak Djokovic (2)
Dominic Thiem (8) v Gilles Simon
Angelique Kerber (1) v Kirsten Flipkens
Court 2 - 2.30pm
Grigor Dimitrov (13) v Marcos Baghdatis
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Christina McHale
Milos Raonic (6) v Mikhail Youzhny
Tsvetana Pironkova v Caroline Wozniacki (5)
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
