Manchester City kept up the pressure in the Premier League title battle as they beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 to move to within a point of leaders Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola's men, who triumphed at the City Ground thanks to goals from Josko Gvardiol and substitute Erling Haaland, who was returning from a muscle injury, are just a point adrift of the Gunners with a game in hand.
Gvardiol opened the scoring for the defending champions in the 32nd minute as he headed in Kevin De Bruyne's corner as Forest were down to 10 men following an injury to Neco Williams,
The home side squandered plenty of chances, with Chris Wood particularly wasteful in the box.
Jack Grealish made way for Haaland in the 62nd minute and it didn't take long for the Norwegian to add to his tally to 32 goals as he collected a lovely pass from De Bruyne and finished superbly after wrong-footing the Forest defence.
After the game Haaland told Sky Sportrs: "Its an important win, it does not matter how we do it, and it is good to be back.
"We knew it was going to be a fight, and the pitch was not the easiest to play on but we cannot complain, it is about winning and that is exactly what we did."
Guardiola said when asked about the pressure of a tight title battle: "The pressure is how you play. If you play good and control the game then people say you don't feel the pressure, if you play bad people say you feel the pressure.
"In certain moments we suffered. We were lucky today the pitch was so dry, because the chances they missed that was the reason why. We were lucky today that the pitch was in these conditions."
Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo said: "We played a good game, were compact, organised and had chances. We did a good job regarding how hard it is to play against Manchester City, and the players gave it a big go. With this attitude, we will achieve what we want.
"We are disappointed with the result, the encouragement comes from the way we work, how committed we are, and what we have ahead of us. This is more important. We stay positive and we go for the next three games."
There was some bad news for City goalkeeper Ederson left the City Ground with his left arm in a sling after coming off at half time following his collision with Willy Boly.
Meanwhile, Marcos Senesi, Enes Unal and Justin Kluivert scored to lift Bournemouth into the top half of the Premier League with a 3-0 victory against Brighton at the Vitality Stadium.
The win meant that the Cherries surpassed their record points total in the top flight, overtaking the 46 they collected under Eddie Howe in 2016/17.
Andoni Iraola's side took the lead after 13 minutes when Senesi headed home following a Lewis Cook corner.
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi made seven changes to his line-up following the 4-0 drubbing by Manchester City on Thursday but it didn't change the outcome.
Dutch winger Kluivert played a part in the second on 52 minutes, making a mazy run before finding Dango Ouattara down the left.
Ouattara’s cross from the byline was met by a towering header from Udal, sending the ball back across goal and beyond the dive of Bart Verbruggen.
Kluivert also had the last word with a fine left-footed finish.
Bournemouth defender Adam Smith told Sky Sports: "It is the most talented group we've had here in years. It is a great result and amazing to beat our points total, that was our aim.
"[Iraola] has been amazing. It was a transition when he first came in and we struggled in first 10 games to get a grip on how he wanted to play. As soon as we got to grips with it we went on a run and haven't looked back since. He's done a great job."
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (PA) Group 1 | US$75,000 (Dirt) | 2,200 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas (TB) Listed | $250,000 (D) | 1,600m
7.40pm: Meydan Classic Trial (TB) Conditions | $100,000 (Turf) | 1,400m
8.15pm: Al Shindagha Sprint (TB) Group 3 | $200,000 (D) | 1,200m
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (D) | 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,000m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
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
