Gareth Bale had a fortuitous hand in Spurs' second goal but otherwise struggled to influence proceedings. AFP
Gareth Bale had a fortuitous hand in Spurs' second goal but otherwise struggled to influence proceedings. AFP
Gareth Bale had a fortuitous hand in Spurs' second goal but otherwise struggled to influence proceedings. AFP
Gareth Bale had a fortuitous hand in Spurs' second goal but otherwise struggled to influence proceedings. AFP

Europa league round-up: Bale labours in easy Tottenham win


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Gareth Bale had a quiet start for Tottenham since returning to the London club, while Carlos Vinicius made a more impressive debut, setting up two goals in a 3-0 win over Lask in the Europa League on Thursday.

Arsenal opened their fourth straight Europa League campaign with a 2-1 come-from-behind win at Rapid Vienna in an opening round of games affected by Covid-19.

On a good night for Premier League clubs, Leicester earned a comfortable 3-0 home win over Zorya Luhansk.

Bale's second coming underwhelms - so far

After coming on as a substitute against West Ham for his first appearance since returning to Tottenham, Bale played more than an hour against in the Group J match against Austria’s Lask and had a hand in Tottenham’s second goal.

The on-loan forward collected a pass from Erik Lamela in the 27th minute and sent a low cross into the area from the right that defender Andres Andrade deflected into his own net.

Earlier, Lucas Moura finished off another free-flowing move to open the scoring after being set up by Vinicius.

Soccer Football - Europa League - Group J - Tottenham Hotspur v LASK Linz - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - October 22, 2020 Tottenham Hotspur's Lucas Moura celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
Soccer Football - Europa League - Group J - Tottenham Hotspur v LASK Linz - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - October 22, 2020 Tottenham Hotspur's Lucas Moura celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

The Brazilian created several other chances before teeing up substitute Son Heung-­min to wrap up the win six minutes from time.

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho is looking to win the competition for a third time with a third club, having won it with both Porto and Manchester United.

Substitutes galvanise Gunners' comeback 

Arsenal went behind in their match when goalkeeper Bernd Leno played a poor pass that fell to Rapid forward Taxiarchis Fountas, who slotted in a low shot from a tough angle in the 51st minute.

Manager Mikel Arteta sent on Pierre­ Emerick Aubameyang and Hector Bellerín in the 61st, and the substitutes helped to spark the comeback.

After David Luiz headed in a free kick from Nicolas Pepe to level the score, Mohamed Elneny freed Bellerín down the right to cross for Aubameyang to complete Arsenal's comeback from close range.

Leicester's three points were a more assured affair.

James Maddison and Harvey Barnes scored first half-goals, and Kelechi Iheanacho added one more in the second in Group G as Brendan Rodgers’ team bounced back from two straight losses in the Premier League.

For once AC Milan didn’t need Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score, as Rade Krunic and Brahim Díaz netted in the first half at Celtic.

Substitute Jens Petter Hauge added the third for Milan in injury time after Celtic pulled one back through Mohamed Elyounoussi.

To pour further salt on The Hoops' wounds, Glasgow rivals Rangers won 2-0 at Standard Liege.

The highlight of the match was Kemar Roofe's opening goal, a shot from the halfway line that caught the goalkeeper off guard and looped into the net.

STAGE 4 RESULTS

1 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 4:51:51

2 David Dekker (NED) Team Jumbo-Visma

3 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 

4 Elia Viviani (ITA) Cofidis

5 Matteo Moschetti (ITA) Trek-Segafredo

General Classification

1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 12:50:21

2 Adam Yates (GBR) Teamn Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:43

3 Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:03

4 Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:43

5 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45

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.”

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

INFO

What: DP World Tour Championship
When: November 21-24
Where: Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae.

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKinetic%207%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rick%20Parish%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Clean%20cooking%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self-funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Juliet, Naked
Dir: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​Two stars

The cost of Covid testing around the world

Egypt

Dh514 for citizens; Dh865 for tourists

Information can be found through VFS Global.

Jordan

Dh212

Centres include the Speciality Hospital, which now offers drive-through testing.

Cambodia

Dh478

Travel tests are managed by the Ministry of Health and National Institute of Public Health.

Zanzibar

AED 295

Zanzibar Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, located within the Lumumba Secondary School compound.

Abu Dhabi

Dh85

Abu Dhabi’s Seha has test centres throughout the UAE.

UK

From Dh400

Heathrow Airport now offers drive through and clinic-based testing, starting from Dh400 and up to Dh500 for the PCR test.

Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier

ICC Academy, November 22-28

UAE fixtures
Nov 22, v Malaysia
Nov 23, v Hong Kong
Nov 25, v Bhutan
Nov 26, v Kuwait
Nov 28, v Nepal

ICC T20I rankings
14. Nepal
17. UAE
25. Hong Kong
34. Kuwait
35. Malaysia
44. Bhutan 

UAE squad
Chaya Mughal (captain), Natasha Cherriath, Samaira Dharnidharka, Kavisha Egodage, Mahika Gaur, Priyanjali Jain, Suraksha Kotte, Vaishnave Mahesh, Judit Peter, Esha Rohit, Theertha Satish, Chamani Seneviratne, Khushi Sharma, Subha Venkataraman

Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.