There was a Ronaldo-esque celebration. Just not from Cristiano Ronaldo, which rather summed up Manchester United’s day.
Andros Townsend explained that he was paying tribute to a hero as he enjoyed Everton’s equaliser, rather than mocking him, but United had greater concerns as they had a third setback in four games at Old Trafford.
This time Ronaldo could not produce a sequel. There was no second injury-time decider at Old Trafford in four days. There was the same frenzied atmosphere in stoppage time, but a different conclusion.
United were held. Everton were rightly happy, the Herculean efforts of a depleted band earning them a deserved point. Even as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could reflect with satisfaction on an unexpected choice that was justified, as the recalled Anthony Martial scored a first goal since February, United continued to stutter and stumble. They could have gone top of the league but, despite taking the lead, they lacked the conviction and coherence.
Ronaldo was a subplot, perhaps, as well as a substitute. He was rested for 55 minutes, summoned to a huge ovation as he and Jadon Sancho came on for Edinson Cavani and Martial.
He entered with United leading and departed with them having dropped points after Solskjaer’s superstar substitutes threatened more late drama.
Ronaldo whipped a shot across the face of goal, Paul Pogba curled a shot just wide, with a motionless Pickford watching, and Sancho rolled a low shot at the goalkeeper.
This time, however, there was no rescue act, nothing to camouflage United’s problems. They have now have a solitary clean sheet in 18 games. “We conceded one and that's one too many,” Solskjaer said. “We dominated the game, we just couldn't get that second goal you need,” he insisted.
United did indeed muster 72 per cent of possession though whether that qualified as domination is another matter. It felt more like wastefulness.
Bruno Fernandes was altogether blunter than his manager. “We should win this game,” he said. “We should create more chances. We should not concede that kind of goal. It's not the first time and we have to look at our mistakes.”
But it began well. Martial may have represented the surprise selection. His start to the season has been wretched and, when he headed an early chance wide, the sense was that he was spurning another opportunity.
Instead, he struck in glorious fashion, latching on to Fernandes’ pass, curling a shot into the top corner. It was his just his third United goal in 25 games. “A great goal,” said Solskjaer.
He had also recalled Cavani, who probably ought to have scored when he met Fred’s cross, but Jordan Pickford clawed his header away. Yet Everton posed a threat: Michael Keane, once of the United academy, glanced a header wide.
Everton settled into their 4-4-1-1 formation, challenged United to break them down and excelled on electric counter-attacks. David de Gea marked his 450th United appearance with a sharp save to push Demarai Gray’s skimming drive away. Gray was a menace, gliding past defenders, rolling a shot narrowly wide, looking a bargain at £1.7 million.
His speed brought an equaliser. It stemmed from United’s poor corner, scuffed by Fernandes. Gray won the ball to surge clear and find Abdoulaye Doucoure. In turn, he picked out Townsend, who angled his shot past De Gea. “We did have enough players behind the ball but we make a couple of bad decisions which cost us in those 10 seconds,” rued Solskjaer.
But Benitez had more to savour. “The goal that Townsend scored was great,” he said. The summer signing has five goals, an unexpected bounty that has helped Everton compensate for the loss of the injured Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The manager’s meticulousness has improved Everton. Their previous visit to Manchester brought a 5-0 defeat at the Etihad for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. Benitez has transformed them. “Overall, it was a great performance,” he smiled.
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Tales of Yusuf Tadros
Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
Hoopoe
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The details
Colette
Director: Wash Westmoreland
Starring: Keira Knightley, Dominic West
Our take: 3/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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.”
The specs
Engine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 180hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm at 3,00rpm
Transmission: 5-speed sequential auto
Price: From Dh139,995
On sale: now
