Michy Batshuayi scored twice as Chelsea beat Premier League rivals Newcastle United 3-0 to advance into the fifth round of the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Batshuayi's goals in the 31st and 44th minutes and a Marcos Alonso free kick 18 minutes from time were enough for Premier League champions Chelsea to see off Rafael Benitez's struggling side.
The Belgian's striker's first was the result of a neat team move, Pedro's superb through ball splitting the Newcastle defence and leading to Eden Hazard slipping a pass inside to Alonso.
Spaniard Alonso toed the ball first-time to Batshuayi, who made no mistake with a simple finish from eight yards out.
The Belgian forward scored his and Chelsea's second goal shortly before half time when Pedro again initiated an attacking move, his pass releasing Hazard to run at a struggling defence.
Batshuayi, up in support, looked set to run across his man but instead moved away, creating the space for Hazard to play him in before his shot took a huge deflection off Newcastle's Jamaal Lascelles and looped over goalkeeper Karl Darlow.
Any lingering doubt about the result was settled in the 72nd minute when Alonso whipped a left-footed free kick over the defensive wall to make it 3-0.
There have been suggestions that Batshuayi could be on his way out of Stamford Bridge during the closing days of the January transfer window.
But as for his immediate future, Batshuayi said he wanted to impress Blues manager Antonio Conte, telling BT Sport: "When I have a chance I take the chance and I work every day to be here. It's not for me to decide, it's the boss ... it's best that you ask Conte!"
The Chelsea manager said he had no desire to see Batshuayi depart the club.
"Scoring goals is important for strikers' confidence. My task is to keep every single player happy and with Michy I think we are doing a good job," Conte said.
Chelsea are 15 points behind runaway league leaders Manchester City and, following their League Cup semi-final loss to Arsenal, the FA Cup offers Conte's men their best chance of a domestic trophy this season.
"There were some great performances, especially from this man next to me [Batshuayi] with two great goals," said Chelsea captain Gary Cahill.
"It [the FA Cup] a very important competition for us this year," the defender added.
By contrast, Premier League survival is the priority for a Newcastle side that are currently just one point above the relegation zone.
Newcastle manager Benitez, asked if he would be able to bring in a new striker before the transfer window shuts on Wednesday, replied: "I don't think so but we will see. We will try to do something.
"I have to prepare the team for the next game against Burnley and then we'll see if we can do something before the transfer window closes."
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Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
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Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents
Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University
As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families
Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too
