Two-time defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Lyon on Sunday at the Parc des Princes as they lost ground on leading trio Marseille, Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne.
Laurent Blanc’s talent-laden side gave away an 84th minute equaliser after appearing in control following Edinson Cavani’s 20th minute opener.
PSG take their tally to 10 points and three behind Marseille who lead the way on goal difference from Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne.
Lille are alone in fourth on 12 points with Montpellier and Nantes also level with PSG and well positioned after six matches in Ligue 1.
Uruguayan striker Cavani scored his third goal of the season with a superb diving header as he latched onto a pinpoint cross from 21-year-old left-back Lucas Digne.
However with time running out, PSG failed to clear their penalty box after a scramble and the ball fell to Cameroon-born defender Samuel Umtiti whose right foot shot was deflected by Brazilian Marquinhos and past stranded keeper Salvatore Sirigu.
Blanc’s side marshalled the match in a confident showing, following their 1-1 draw at Ajax in midweek in their Champions League pool opener, but will come under further scrutiny after again letting points slip at home.
Earlier, Saint-Etienne moved into third place thanks to a goal eight minutes from time by Fabien Lemoine for a valuable 1-0 win at Lens.
Last season’s runners-up Monaco got some welcome cheer after a dismal start to their campaign with a narrow 1-0 victory over Brittany side Guingamp while Lille and Montpellier battled to a scoreless draw.
“It was a good week and good for the confidence,” said Saint-Etienne striker Mevlut Erding following the team’s fourth win in six matches.
“Physically, it was difficult especially with the travelling but we didn’t have time to worry about it,” added Erding in reference to the club’s Europa League trip to Azerbaijan in midweek.
“We knew in the second half we had to be solid at the back and then wait for weaknesses in our opponent.”
At the Louis II stadium on the Cote d’Azur, former Sporting Lisbon coach Leonardo Jardim guided Monaco to their second win in six days thanks a goal seven minutes before half-time from Nabil Dirar.
The team, who celebrated their return to European football after almost a decade with a 1-0 win over Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen in midweek Champions League action, picked up maximum points in the league for only the second time this season.
They are now up to 16th with a return of seven points from six matches.
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Play-off fixtures
Two-legged ties to be played November 9-11 and November 12-14
- Northern Ireland v Switzerland
- Croatia v Greece
- Denmark v Ireland
- Sweden v Italy
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
