Playing their youngest ever side which featured seven teenagers and four debutants, Manchester United fell to their first defeat in the Europa League this season as Kazakhstan’s champions Astana came from behind to win 2-1 in front of 28,949 in the Astana Arena.
When Astana visited Old Trafford in September, United’s coaching staff felt that the lack of a breakthrough made the players anxious and tense which fed into a nervy atmosphere. The Europa League is not where one of the three biggest clubs in the world want to be. Doing badly in the Europa League is even worse, but United got a late breakthrough in September.
There were no such worries early in Astana as United’s callow players from a squad with the most ever academy graduates scored after 10 minutes, but their inexperience would ultimately show.
Stand in captain Jesse Lingard gave United the lead after with a low shot across the artificial surface into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
Lingard hasn’t always helped himself in a rough year of little creativity, but he took the goal well and ran to celebrate in front of the 950 United fans who’d travelled to their club’s furthest away European away game.
The 150 fans who’d arrived on a plane from Manchester for free thanks to the club took six hours each way, the rest flew via points all over Europe. Never before has the temperature in the host city been as low as the minus 15 in Astana – though the game was played indoor where it reached a relative balmy plus 15.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is determined to bring young players through from the club’s academy but suspected his extremely young side would find it a challenge against a side experienced in European competition, one which had held out for 75 minutes at Old Trafford.
Nevertheless, those youngsters played better than more exalted names, moving the ball quickly against the Kazakhstani champions with confidence and without the nerves which restricted the first team in September.
Sixteen youth players were in the matchday squad, breaking the record set by two previous occasions when 13 youth players were called up.
These were bred in the club. Full back Ethan Laird was the most impressive of the debutants while Dylan Levitt, number 63, from North Wales, also encouraged. Levitt joined when he was eight and moved to lodgings in Manchester at 14, where he still lives with a local family three miles from the training ground. Astana’s playmaker Runar Mar Sigurjonson, a lifelong United from Iceland, has visited Old Trafford more times than eight of the United players have actually played there.
There was disquiet among Astana fans that they’d paid inflated ticket prices to see visitors shorn of their star names since United have already qualified and have Sunday’s Premier League game against Aston Villa to consider, but they saw enough entertainment and went home happy after their team turned it around.
Tahith Chong should have scored when presented with an open goal from close range after 54 minutes but instead struck the ball over.
Chong has flattered to deceive when given first team minutes and his future at the club is doubtful. That miss especially stung United since Astana went up the other end and scored 38 seconds later through Dmitri Shomko.
It was only Astana’s second goal in five group games. The home crowd were joyous, holding yellow boards and mobile phone lights up. Astana’s players were ascendant and took advantage of the out of position Luke Shaw as Antonio Rukavina’s shot hit Di'Shon Bernard’s head, wrong footing Grant and making it 2-1 after 61 minutes.
United tried to get back level with Mason Greenwood’s 77th minute shot being tipped over by Nenad Eric as close as they got.
The young United players will learn from the experience. The Astana players celebrated in front of their fans long after the final whistle. They’d beaten United-lite, which didn’t look plausible at half-time. United need points against AZ Alkmaar to guarantee winning the group in two weeks at Old Trafford.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Points to remember
- Debate the issue, don't attack the person
- Build the relationship and dialogue by seeking to find common ground
- Express passion for the issue but be aware of when you're losing control or when there's anger. If there is, pause and take some time out.
- Listen actively without interrupting
- Avoid assumptions, seek understanding, ask questions
How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
F1 The Movie
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Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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SERIES INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Table
The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff
1 United States 8 6 2 0 0 12 0.412
2 Scotland 8 4 3 0 1 9 0.139
3 Namibia 7 4 3 0 0 8 0.008
4 Oman 6 4 2 0 0 8 -0.139
5 UAE 7 3 3 0 1 7 -0.004
6 Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 PNG 8 0 8 0 0 0 -0.458
The biog
Name: Shamsa Hassan Safar
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Degree in emergency medical services at Higher Colleges of Technology
Favourite book: Between two hearts- Arabic novels
Favourite music: Mohammed Abdu and modern Arabic songs
Favourite way to spend time off: Family visits and spending time with friends
How to tell if your child is being bullied at school
Sudden change in behaviour or displays higher levels of stress or anxiety
Shows signs of depression or isolation
Ability to sleep well diminishes
Academic performance begins to deteriorate
Changes in eating habits
Struggles to concentrate
Refuses to go to school
Behaviour changes and is aggressive towards siblings
Begins to use language they do not normally use
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
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
QUARTER-FINAL
Wales 20-19 France
Wales: T: Wainwright, Moriarty. Cons: Biggar (2) Pens: Biggar 2
France: T: Vahaamahina, Ollivon, Vakatawa Cons: Ntamack (2)
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Rashid & Rajab
Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib
Stars: Shadi Alfons, Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab
Two stars out of five
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
Who is Tim-Berners Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Enterprise-grade%20security%20and%20privacy%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Unlimited%20higher-speed%20GPT-4%20access%20with%20no%20caps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Longer%20context%20windows%20for%20processing%20longer%20inputs%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Advanced%20data%20analysis%20capabilities%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Customisation%20options%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shareable%20chat%20templates%20that%20companies%20can%20use%20to%20collaborate%20and%20build%20common%20workflows%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Analytics%20dashboard%20for%20usage%20insights%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Free%20credits%20to%20use%20OpenAI%20APIs%20to%20extend%20OpenAI%20into%20a%20fully-custom%20solution%20for%20enterprises%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Liverpool 4-1 Shrewsbury
Liverpool
Gordon (34'), Fabinho (44' pen, 90' 3), Firmino (78')
Shrewsbury
Udoh (27'minutes)
Man of the Match: Kaide Gordon (Liverpool)
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
