Wolverhampton Wanderers' Daniel Podence (left) celebrates with Leander Dendoncker after scoring their side's second goal against Leicester at Molineux Stadium. PA.
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Daniel Podence (left) celebrates with Leander Dendoncker after scoring their side's second goal against Leicester at Molineux Stadium. PA.
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Daniel Podence (left) celebrates with Leander Dendoncker after scoring their side's second goal against Leicester at Molineux Stadium. PA.
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Daniel Podence (left) celebrates with Leander Dendoncker after scoring their side's second goal against Leicester at Molineux Stadium. PA.

Wolves boss looking for 'something special' after 2-1 win over Leicester


Neil Murphy
  • English
  • Arabic

Wolves boss Bruno Lage is looking for "something special" this season after his side maintained their position in the Premier League top-four race with a 2-1 win over Leicester City.

Goals in either half from Ruben Neves and Daniel Podence at a rain-soaked Molineux kept them six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United with two games in hand.

Lage has transformed this Wolves side from the one that struggled to entertain under Nuno Espirito Santo last season.

And with six wins from their past eight games, Wolves are very much a contender to qualify for the Champions League in what is looking like a thrilling battle alongside Manchester United, West Ham, Arsenal and Tottenham.

"It depends on the way we work," Lage said. "Now is time to recover and prepare best for the game against Arsenal and that is it.

"That's the most important thing. We are coming with solid performances, we are scoring goals, we are winning points and we need to continue this way because if we do we can do something special.

"That is to look at the end. For now it is one more game, three points and focus on the next game.

"When I say something special I mean the way we are going to play these 14 games. We did something special with the way we played in December, January and February. We are doing solid things."

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Bruno Lage. PA.
Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Bruno Lage. PA.

Wolves were perhaps fortunate to win the the game as Ademola Lookman had levelled for Leicester before the break and they were on the back foot when Podence restored their lead.

The Foxes have been in the race for the top four in the past two seasons but have struggled this time. This loss makes it five Premier League games without a win.

But boss Brendan Rodgers said his side's performance was one that showed they were returning to form.

"The result is a little frustrating because of our performance," Rodgers said. "We played very, very well. We are very disappointed. They had two shots on goal and scored two goals.

"I have seen us win some games and play nowhere near that level. I can see some fluidity coming back. We were at least worthy of a point. It was a little disappointing not to take anything.

"We are starting to return to our level, you see the progression, the energy in the team. We were a real threat today.

"Maybe in the final third we lacked the bit of quality needed to break down a five-man defence, but we arrived there numerous times with some good football.

"It is disappointing to not get something, but this game is all about performing and if we can do that we know with players coming back we can get back and challenge again.

"You look at that performance, you see our football. It might be too late for us this season in terms of challenging where we have been in the last couple of years, but we want to finish strongly."

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Checks continue

A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.

MATCH SCHEDULE

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tuesday, April 24 (10.45pm)

Liverpool v Roma

Wednesday, April 25
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (10.45pm)

Europa League semi-final, first leg
Thursday, April 26

Arsenal v Atletico Madrid (11.05pm)
Marseille v Salzburg (11.05pm)

Schedule for Asia Cup

Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)

Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)

Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)

Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)

Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four

Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai) 

Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)

Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)

Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 28: Final (Dubai)

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eamana%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Karim%20Farra%20and%20Ziad%20Aboujeb%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERegulator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDFSA%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinancial%20services%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E85%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESelf-funded%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Maxus T60

Price, base / as tested: Dh48,000

Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder

Power: 136hp @ 1,600rpm

Torque: 360Nm @ 1,600 rpm

Transmission: Five-speed manual

Fuel consumption, combined: 9.1L / 100km

THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS

AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas

DevisionX – manufacturing

Event Gates – security and manufacturing

Farmdar – agriculture

Farmin – smart cities

Greener Crop – agriculture

Ipera.ai – space digitisation

Lune Technologies – fibre-optics

Monak – delivery

NutzenTech – environment

Nybl – machine learning

Occicor – shelf management

Olymon Solutions – smart automation

Pivony – user-generated data

PowerDev – energy big data

Sav – finance

Searover – renewables

Swftbox – delivery

Trade Capital Partners – FinTech

Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment

Workfam – employee engagement

LA LIGA FIXTURES

Friday (UAE kick-off times)

Real Sociedad v Leganes (midnight)

Saturday

Alaves v Real Valladolid (4pm)

Valencia v Granada (7pm)

Eibar v Real Madrid (9.30pm)

Barcelona v Celta Vigo (midnight)

Sunday

Real Mallorca v Villarreal (3pm)

Athletic Bilbao v Levante (5pm)

Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (7pm)

Getafe v Osasuna (9.30pm)

Real Betis v Sevilla (midnight)

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results

2.30pm: Park Avenue – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 2,000m; Winner: Rb Seqondtonone, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)

3.05pm: Al Furjan – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Bosphorus, Dane O’Neill, Bhupat Seemar

3.40pm: Mina – Rated Condition (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Royal Mews, Tadhg O’Shea, Bhupat Seemar

4.15pm: Aliyah – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,900m; Winner: Ursa Minor, Ray Dawson, Ahmad bin Harmash

4.50pm: Riviera Beach – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 2,200m; Winner: Woodditton, Saif Al Balushi, Ahmad bin Harmash

5.25pm: Riviera – Handicap (TB) Dh2,000 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Al Madhar, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi

6pm: Creek Views – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Al Salt, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy

Updated: February 20, 2022, 8:22 PM