Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 14th goal of the Saudi Pro League season as Al Nassr beat Al Fateh 3-1 to reclaim third spot in the table and close the gap on the top two.
Ronaldo, who converted Sadio Mane's pass in the 87th minute to put the result beyond doubt, celebrated in trademark fashion and then declared via his Instagram account: “We’re not stopping.”
The win closed the gap on second-placed Al Ittihad and leaders Al Hilal to eight points, with the top two in action on Monday night. Al Nassr's primary concern will be locking down third place and the final Asian Champions League spot.
They took the lead on Sunday after 41 minutes when Marwana Saadane of Al Fateh put through his own goal. Mohamed Simakan then doubled Nassr's advantage in the 57th minute with a well-placed header.
Al Fateh got back into the game when Mourad Batna struck from the edge of the box on 72 minutes after a blunder from Nassr keeper Bento.
But Ronaldo, who had earlier seen a first-half effort disallowed, secured the three points when he fired home from close range. There was still time for VAR to deny him a second, though, after he had crashed home from a narrow angle.
Ronaldo remains in contract talks with Nassr, with the club reported to be ready to hand the Portuguese star a lucrative extension. His current deal expires in the summer. The Riyadh club have also been linked with a move for his former Real Madrid teammate Casemiro, currently out of favour at Manchester United, ahead of Thursday night's SPL transfer deadline.
Elsewhere, Al Ahli put Al Riyadh to the sword in Jeddah with an emphatic 5-0 victory at King Abdullah Sports City on Sunday night.
Al Ahli, who sit fifth in the table, also have aspirations of a top-three finish and have their sizeable former Premier League cohort to thank for this latest victory.
Former Brentford striker Ivan Toney fired them ahead as he chested down a ball over the top and shot past the keeper for a smart finish – his sixth goal in 14 games since moving to the kingdom.
Ziyad Aljohani doubled the lead on the hour as he headed the second after Al Riyadh failed to clear a corner. The floodgates opened as Roberto Firmino scored the third from close range just moments later.
Toney tucked home the fourth from the penalty spot before Riyad Mahrez completed the rout with the pick of the goals – a spectacular finish from outside the box.
Also on Sunday night, 10-man Al Taawoun were held at home by relegation-threatened Al Orobah and Al Khaleej moved up to seventh with a 2-1 victory over Al Okhdood.
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
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Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur (3.30pm)
Burnley v Huddersfield Town (7pm)
Everton v Bournemouth (7pm)
Manchester City v Crystal Palace (7pm)
Southampton v Manchester United (7pm)
Stoke City v Chelsea (7pm)
Swansea City v Watford (7pm)
Leicester City v Liverpool (8.30pm)
Sunday
Brighton and Hove Albion v Newcastle United (7pm)
Monday
Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion (11pm)
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Results
6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah – Group 2 (PA) $36,000 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: RB Money To Burn, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Turf) 2,410m, Winner: Star Safari, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: Meydan Trophy – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (T) 1,900m, Winner: Secret Protector, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 - Group 2 (TB) $293,000 (D) 1,900m, Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
8.50pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Zakouski, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (T) 1,000m, Winner: Motafaawit, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
