England attacker Eberechi Eze made it a week to remember for club and country after scoring one and setting up another to help put Crystal Palace on the road to victory at Fulham in their FA Cup quarter-final clash on Saturday.
Eze's curling finish put Palace ahead on the 34th minute as the Eagles eased to a ruthless 3-0 win at Craven Cottage, coming just four days after notching his first goal for the Three Lions in their World Cup qualifying victory over Latvia by the same scoreline at Wembley Stadium.
Ismaila Sarr headed home a second for Oliver Glasner's men four minutes after the opener, with Eze supplying his 10th assist across all competitions for Palace this season.
Substitute Eddie Nketiah put the icing on the cake with 15 minutes to go with a calm finish past under Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno's feet.
It sealed a second semi-final appearance in four seasons, keeping their dream of a first ever FA Cup victory alive and continuing Palace's fine Premier League form that has seen them win four and draw one of their last five matches.
“It was an important goal,” said Eze of his opener. “I'm happy to help the team and that's what I'm here for. We didn't start the best, it was difficult and there was a lot of defending but eventually we broke them down.
“I want to get the ball in the pockets and cutting inside, thank God it went in today. We took our chances when we got them and we put in a good performance.
“We're confident in ourselves and we know what we can do, we know what we are capable of. It's games like today where you show the mentality which will get you further in the tournament.”
Captain Marc Guehi praised his team's resilience in the all-London quarter-final. "We dig deep and got our rewards," said the England defender.
“Big credit to the manager and the staff, we make sure we are set up in the right way with real leaders on the pitch. There is resilience in the team and that's what we need.
“We'll take it one game at a time. We did what we had to do today, we focus on the league and then focus on who we get in the next round. One game at a time. We thank God for this opportunity so we will do our best to take it.”
Palace handed a start to the striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was sporting headgear to protect the horror head injury suffered in his side's fifth-round win at Millwall.
It was Fulham who enjoyed the early pressure with Rodrigo Muniz going close after two minutes with a spin, drive and effort which went just wide.
Alongside Muniz, 36-year-old Willian showed no signs of slowing down with the former Chelsea and Arsenal winger at the heart of Fulham's attacks down the left flank.
Willian was accompanied by overlapping left-back Antonee Robinson throughout, with a particular surging run infield forcing Adam Wharton into an early booking.
After Wharton avoided a sending off for a kick-out on Muniz – which Fulham manager Marco Silva would later call a “clear” second yellow card – Palace started to get a foothold.
They almost took a lead in stunning fashion when Jefferson Lerma cannoned a strike with the outside of his boot off the crossbar from outside the box.
Just eight minutes later, the Eagles were in front – and in some style when Eze cut inside and breezed away from Andreas Pereira, opening up his body and slotting home into the far right corner.
It was two not long after when Eze skipped down the left and whipped an inch-perfect cross on to the head of Sarr, with the Senegalese evading his marker and nodding past Bernd Leno.
The tie was wrapped up when Nketiah used his pace on the counter to get in behind the hosts' defence before nutmegging Leno for a third.
Next month's semi-final will mark Palace's first trip to Wembley since they lost to Chelsea at the same stage of the FA Cup in 2022.
Silva, meanwhile was left bemoaning his side for not being “ruthless and clinical” during their spell of pressure early in the game.
“[For] 25 minutes of the match, we completely dominated and we had three or four dangerous moments around their goal,” said the Portuguese coach. “We should have scored in those moments. You need to be ruthless and clinical.
"They are solid and compact. They set nine players around their box every single time and when we are able to create, we have to score. We didn't and we were not strong in both ends this afternoon.”
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.”
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
New process leads to panic among jobseekers
As a UAE-based travel agent who processes tourist visas from the Philippines, Jennifer Pacia Gado is fielding a lot of calls from concerned travellers just now. And they are all asking the same question.
“My clients are mostly Filipinos, and they [all want to know] about good conduct certificates,” says the 34-year-old Filipina, who has lived in the UAE for five years.
Ms Gado contacted the Philippines Embassy to get more information on the certificate so she can share it with her clients. She says many are worried about the process and associated costs – which could be as high as Dh500 to obtain and attest a good conduct certificate from the Philippines for jobseekers already living in the UAE.
“They are worried about this because when they arrive here without the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] clearance, it is a hassle because it takes time,” she says.
“They need to go first to the embassy to apply for the application of the NBI clearance. After that they have go to the police station [in the UAE] for the fingerprints. And then they will apply for the special power of attorney so that someone can finish the process in the Philippines. So it is a long process and more expensive if you are doing it from here.”
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500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
U19 World Cup in South Africa
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
UAE squad
Aryan Lakra (captain), Vriitya Aravind, Deshan Chethyia, Mohammed Farazuddin, Jonathan Figy, Osama Hassan, Karthik Meiyappan, Rishabh Mukherjee, Ali Naseer, Wasi Shah, Alishan Sharafu, Sanchit Sharma, Kai Smith, Akasha Tahir, Ansh Tandon
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
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ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
