Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan scored a superb double to help his side to a 3-0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday – and take them to within one win of retaining their title.
The German midfielder produced a wonderful piece of improvisation to put City ahead in the 37th minute. With his back to goal, he controlled a ball sent into the box with his thigh before flicking it behind him past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and into the net.
Gundogan then produced a pinpoint cross for Erling Haaland to head home City's second, which was the Norwegian's 36th Premier League goal of the season and his 52nd in all competitions, two minutes later.
Then, just after half-time, City were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Everton penalty and Gundogan stepped up to clip a perfect finish past Pickford for his fourth goal in two matches.
The victory lifted City four points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table with a game in hand after the Gunners lost 3-0 at the Emirates to Brighton in Sunday’s late kick-off.
Pep Guardiola’s side will seal their third title in a row by taking three points from their remaining games against Chelsea, Brighton and Brentford.
Next up for City in their bid to secure a famous treble is the Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. The first leg finished 1-1 in Spain.
“Between the Champions League semis it’s difficult here after Everton scored five against Brighton,” said City manager Pep Guardiola.
“From minute one we took the game in our hands. It was a brilliant performance at the end of a season. We need two more victories to be champions. Step by step recovery.
“They defended deep. Their transitions are amazing. They are the best team by far in transitions in the league. We controlled the game. We were patient and attacked the spaces.
“Gundogan arriving in the box is amazing. Really, really important.
“Every time we win you bring energy for the next game. We are recovering well.
“Semi-final of the Champions League against Real Madrid at home, what can you say? I said to the players try to relax and just do what you have done for the last four or five years.”
Everton, meanwhile, remain deep in relegation trouble sitting one place and one point outside the bottom three. The Merseysiders have now lost 10 home matches in a single league campaign for the first time.
Sean Dyche's side travel to Wolves next Saturday before taking on Bournemouth at home on the final day of the season.
The sight of injury-prone striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin being replaced at half-time would have been of some concern to Everton, who are now relying on neighbours Liverpool to do them a favour and prevent them falling into the bottom three by denying 19th-placed Leicester victory on Monday.
The worst-case scenario would be facing those two matches without the England international, who, despite only one goal in five games since returning from two and half months out with a hamstring injury, has provided a much-needed focal point.
The hosts came flying out of the blocks, roared on by a home crowd more in hope than expectation.
However, despite the impressive work-rate of the likes of Dwight McNeil, it was mostly all bluff and bluster as their only real opportunity came in the 34th minute when Mason Holgate blazed over a difficult chance from four yards from James Tarkowski's knock-down.
Less than three minutes later City were ahead and within seven they had doubled their advantage, with Gundogan at the heart of both goals.
When Riyad Mahrez flicked over a right-wing cross the Germany international took a delicate touch on his thigh before instantly hooking a shot over his shoulder with the outside of his right foot, which took marker Nathan Patterson and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford by surprise.
Haaland's goal was more rudimentary as Gundogan pounced on Patterson's weak header to cross for the Norwegian to leap higher than makeshift left-back Holgate, in for the injured Vitalii Mykolenko, to head home. It was only his third touch of the game.
When Gundogan curled home a free-kick after James Garner brought down Phil Foden in the 51st minute it effectively put paid to Everton's already slim chances of staging an unlikely recovery.
Dyche said: “I thought we were excellent for 30 minutes but they showed what a class side they are. They were slow in passing it in front of us, which was fine by us. But they changed their game plan and went longer.
“They picked up the scraps and capitalised on it. They showed what a top side they are because they can score goals in different ways.”
The Byblos iftar in numbers
29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month
50 staff members required to prepare an iftar
200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total
500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
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HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
MATCH INFO
Everton 0
Manchester City 2 (Laporte 45 2', Jesus 90 7')
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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.”
Scores
New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs
New Zealand win by 47 runs
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Thanksgiving meals to try
World Cut Steakhouse, Habtoor Palace Hotel, Dubai. On Thursday evening, head chef Diego Solis will be serving a high-end sounding four-course meal that features chestnut veloute with smoked duck breast, turkey roulade accompanied by winter vegetables and foie gras and pecan pie, cranberry compote and popcorn ice cream.
Jones the Grocer, various locations across the UAE. Jones’s take-home holiday menu delivers on the favourites: whole roast turkeys, an array of accompaniments (duck fat roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in beef bacon, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots) and more, as well as festive food platters, canapes and both apple and pumpkin pies.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Address Hotel, Dubai. This New Orleans-style restaurant is keen to take the stress out of entertaining, so until December 25 you can order a full seasonal meal from its Takeaway Turkey Feast menu, which features turkey, homemade gravy and a selection of sides – think green beans with almond flakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and bread stuffing – to pick up and eat at home.
The Mattar Farm Kitchen, Dubai. From now until Christmas, Hattem Mattar and his team will be producing game- changing smoked turkeys that you can enjoy at home over the festive period.
Nolu’s, The Galleria Mall, Maryah Island Abu Dhabi. With much of the menu focused on a California inspired “farm to table” approach (with Afghani influence), it only seems right that Nolu’s will be serving their take on the Thanksgiving spread, with a brunch at the Downtown location from 12pm to 4pm on Friday.
Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.
Stat of the day – 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.
The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227-4 at the close.
Tell Me Who I Am
Director: Ed Perkins
Stars: Alex and Marcus Lewis
Four stars
