Pressure on Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag eases after win over Southampton

Matthijs de Ligt and Marcus Rashford both scored after Andre Onana’s vital spot-kick save to lift Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United to a much-needed 3-0 victory at promoted Southampton on Saturday.

Both sides returned from the international break in need of a result as Saints looked for a first point since their Premier League return against a team humbled at home by rivals Liverpool last time out.

Southampton started well but capitulated after Onana saved Cameron Archer’s weak penalty, with De Ligt’s maiden United strike and Rashford’s first of the campaign doing the damage.

Alejandro Garnacho was chopped down by Jack Stephens, who saw red, before adding a third late on in a result that alleviates some of the pressure on Ten Hag, who could ill afford another setback.

Dutchman De Ligt said: "The win was obviously really important. I think if you get three points from three games it's not enough so there was some pressure but I think today we played very well. A big credit to Andre Onana who saved a really important penalty, he changed the game for us.

"We've been working on some set pieces, this one was not exactly out of the book but this was from a good spot. It's my wife's birthday so this one is for her!"

Asked if he had a point to prove after being subbed at half-time for the Netherlands last week, he added: "Not exactly a point to prove, sometimes it doesn't go as well as you want but you have to look at the positive side. I was happy I played one and a half, it's a long time since I played games. This is my third game in a week. For me it's important to get rhythm and I can show a little more what I can do.

"I am enjoying it a lot [at United]. We have a great group, amazing guys. A lot of young guys who have to grow and want to grow. Hopefully we can get more results like this and grow as a team."

'Sometimes you have to find a way to win'

United began badly but the game changed when De Ligt headed home two minutes after Onana stopped Archer’s spot-kick, with the striker then guilty of giving Rashford too much time to strike soon after.

Saints boss Russell Martin made four changes, with homegrown Tyler Dibling among those brought in. The talented 18-year-old tested Onana before winning a penalty after a rash challenge from Diogo Dalot.

After a long delay - the ball was on the spot for 51 seconds - in which the VAR checked the foul was in the box, Archer stepped up and saw Onana save his poor 33rd minute penalty and weak follow-up header.

It was a huge let-off and United capitalised just two minutes later. Aaron Ramsdale had done well to tip a 20-yard Joshua Zirkzee attempt wide but could not stop De Ligt guiding home a header when the resulting corner was played back to Bruno Fernandes to send in a cross.

Saints looked stunned and fell further behind in the 41st minute as Rashford was afforded too much time by Archer and sent a curling 20-yard strike beyond Ramsdale.

Any faint hope of a comeback was ended in the 79th minute as the referee gave a straight red card for Stephens’ poor challenge on substitute Garnacho.

Fernandes shot wide and substitute Taylor Harwood-Bellis impressively blocked a Zirkzee attempt, with Garnacho firing home the third in stoppage time.

"Sometimes you have to find a way to win," said Ten Hag. "First minutes of the game we had some problems but after Andre [Onana] stopped the penalty and the goal by Matthijs de Ligt, the game was all ours."

On Rashford's goal, he added: "It's very important. We spoke before the game and it is so huge for him, for every striker, when the season starts you want to be on the scoring list. Now he has his first, I'm sure more will come. We had the chances to kill the game off, we had the chances, I don't know how many. We had several to go to 3-0 or 4-0."

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.”