Liverpool won the Merseyside derby 2-0 thanks to a brace from Mohamed Salah in a game where Everton were forced to play with 10 men for an hour after Ashley Young's sending off.
Young was red carded following two debatable first half bookings, while referee Craig Pawson further enraged the visitors with his failure to send off Ibrahima Konate in similar circumstances in the second half. Already on a yellow card, Konate tripped substitute Beto as he looked to race clear on halfway. Reds boss Jurgen Klopp responded to Konate's reprieve by immediately subbing the French defender.
Liverpool eventually broke Everton's stubborn resistance with a Salah penalty awarded for a handball by Michael Keane, and a second Salah goal followed in the dying moments as the visitors over-committed in search of an equaliser.
Everton manager Sean Dyche labelled the officiating "bizarre" and the decision not to send off Konate as an "impossibility of football".
"I asked the referee and he said he didn't think it was a bookable offence. Jurgen couldn't wait to get him off," said Dyche. "That decision was incredible to me, and I got a yellow card. It was ridiculous."
Young’s 37th-minute red card – the 29th in this fixture and the 13th of the last 16 to be shown to Everton players – came with Liverpool on top, but was contentious.
Luis Diaz looked to have somewhat bought the first yellow when he went down after a tackle on the halfway line and the second was harsh as Young mistimed a tackle with Diaz on the attack near the Everton box.
Dyche’s response at half-time was to replace his two wingers – Jack Harrison and Dwight McNeil – with defenders Nathan Patterson and Michael Keane and switch to a back five.
Klopp’s side were nowhere near their best in the final third and that played into Everton’s hands.
Konate, whom Everton’s coaching staff felt should also have had a second yellow card for a foul on Beto, was removed for his own good.
Keane must have wished he could have been afforded the same courtesy when his loose arm blocked Diaz’s cross.
Pawson initially gave a corner but VAR advised him to review the pitchside monitor and he reversed his decision and Salah sent Jordan Pickford the wrong way from the spot.
Harvey Elliott and Jota both went close as the onslaught continued but it was Salah who benefited from Darwin Nunez’s quick counter-attack as he clipped home his second as Liverpool extended their record to one defeat in the last 28 derbies.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk credited Everton's resolve and admitted it became difficult to play against 10 men.
“In my opinion the hard work came form the fight Everton put in," he said. "The long balls, the set pieces, they tried to counter on us but we were very prepared for it. The message was to stay patient and play quick from side to side. They made the change at half-time to play with five at the back and we had to be more patient.
“It is difficult to face teams playing with 10 men. We have been on the other side and done well. Our mindset was they were still playing with 11 because it is a bit of mental thing when you have a man extra."
Klopp admitted his side had gotten the rub of the green.
“I liked a lot of moments and then the red card was pretty influential in the game," he said.
"I wanted us to be calm and ignore that we were one man up. It is difficult in the stands because it’s like now you have to create with each possession and it took a while until we got chances. And then the penalty. I saw it back and it is a clear penalty. Ibrahima [Konate], could have gone, yes. It could have happened obviously and then we took him off and from that moment we were solid and compact.”
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More on Quran memorisation:
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
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.”
At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
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January 25 – Second T20, Lahore
January 27 – Third T20, Lahore
February 7-11 – First Test, Rawalpindi
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April 5-9 – Second Test, Karachi
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