Midfielder Youri Tielemans’ brilliant volley set Leicester on their way to a 2-0 win at Everton which lifted them out of the relegation zone.
And while one England hopeful – James Maddison – enhanced his claims for a place in Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad at Goodison Park another – Dominic Calvert-Lewin – could have seen his ended by injury.
Maddison, operating as one of two No 10s with the equally-impressive Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, was an influential figure throughout and, while he was credited with an assist, the goal owed everything to the brilliance of Tielemans.
Barring late misfortune the Belgium international, out of contract in the summer, is guaranteed to be on the plane to Qatar.
His second goal in three games, flicking the ball up with his first touch and hitting a dipping 20-yard volley just under the crossbar with his next, paved the way for a third win in four games which was clinched by Harvey Barnes’ late strike following another Maddison assist.
However, Everton, with four defeats in their last six, are still trying to find some consistency and are now only two points above the relegation zone themselves having been overtaken by the Foxes on goal difference.
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers dispensed with the back five he unsuccessfully employed last weekend against Manchester City, which gave Maddison and Dewsbury-Hall more freedom and it paid dividends.
Patson Daka, in for Jamie Vardy, was inches away from reaching Maddison’s lay-off to poke home the opener after just 18 seconds.
The striker then saw his weak shot saved by Jordan Pickford after Maddison and Dewsbury-Hall had combined again to supply another chance to Daka.
Alex Iwobi responded with a shot across Danny Ward and just wide of the far post after Idrissa Gana Gueye had robbed Boubakary Soumare on the edge of his own penalty area, while Calvert-Lewin would have had a goalscoring opportunity but for a heavy touch from Iwobi’s through-ball.
James Tarkowski had a header palmed behind by Foxes goalkeeper Ward but Maddison and Dewsbury-Hall continued to have the most influence, with the pair both denied in the same move by defensive blocks.
Maddison then cut in from the right but, having induced Tarkowski to commit himself to a fruitless lunge, Gueye deflected his shot wide, after which the game became scrappy with neither side able to retain possession long enough to construct anything meaningful.
There was a pause in proceedings a minute before half-time when Everton defender Conor Coady removed a spent firework which had landed on the pitch but there was still one more rocket to come before the break.
Daka’s shot was blocked and Coady could only half-clear the ball to Maddison who tapped back to Tielemans, who displayed world-class touch, vision and execution to break the deadlock.
Calvert-Lewin should have brought his side level early in the second half when played through by Iwobi but he failed to beat Ward, who stretched out a right foot to block.
Maddison hit the post on the hour before Calvert-Lewin departed straight down the tunnel with an apparent hamstring problem.
Should that be confirmed it would almost certainly end his chances of making a World Cup which starts in 15 days, especially as he has played only 339 minutes – and completed 90 minutes just once – this season after a knee injury delayed his campaign.
Everton’s woes were compounded in the 87th minute when Barnes fired home from 15 yards from Maddison’s cut-back.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Cashew%0D%3Cbr%3EStarted%3A%202020%0D%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Ibtissam%20Ouassif%20and%20Ammar%20Afif%0D%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3EIndustry%3A%20FinTech%0D%3Cbr%3EFunding%20size%3A%20%2410m%0D%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Mashreq%2C%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
The nine articles of the 50-Year Charter
1. Dubai silk road
2. A geo-economic map for Dubai
3. First virtual commercial city
4. A central education file for every citizen
5. A doctor to every citizen
6. Free economic and creative zones in universities
7. Self-sufficiency in Dubai homes
8. Co-operative companies in various sectors
9: Annual growth in philanthropy
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206-cylinder%203-litre%2C%20with%20petrol%20and%20diesel%20variants%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20286hp%20(petrol)%2C%20249hp%20(diesel)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E450Nm%20(petrol)%2C%20550Nm%20(diesel)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EStarting%20at%20%2469%2C800%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
CHELSEA'S NEXT FIVE GAMES
Mar 10: Norwich(A)
Mar 13: Newcastle(H)
Mar 16: Lille(A)
Mar 19: Middlesbrough(A)
Apr 2: Brentford(H)
MATCH INFO
Europa League semi-final, second leg
Atletico Madrid (1) v Arsenal (1)
Where: Wanda Metropolitano
When: Thursday, kick-off 10.45pm
Live: On BeIN Sports HD
Champions League Last 16
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) v Bayern Munich (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Manchester City (ENG)
Benfica (POR) v Ajax (NED)
Chelsea (ENG) v Lille (FRA)
Atletico Madrid (ESP) v Manchester United (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP) v Juventus (ITA)
Inter Milan (ITA) v Liverpool (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid (ESP)
The%20Killer
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EDavid%20Fincher%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EMichael%20Fassbender%2C%20Tilda%20Swinton%2C%20Charles%20Parnell%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Biography
Favourite book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Holiday choice: Anything Disney-related
Proudest achievement: Receiving a presidential award for foreign services.
Family: Wife and three children.
Like motto: You always get what you ask for, the universe listens.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis