Kelechi Iheanacho is determined to seize every chance he gets to impress for Manchester City.
The 19-year-old Nigeria striker made a big impression on his first start for the club with a goal and two assists in a 5-1 League Cup thrashing of Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
The highly-rated prospect, who also scored a late winner against the same opponents as a substitute last month, was given his opportunity in the continued absence of leading striker Sergio Aguero through injury.
Read more: Diego Forlan names his favourite strikers around Europe
And after his eye-catching display against Palace, Iheanacho, who joined City last season but had to be held back while work permit issues were resolved, is now hungry for more.
He said: “I know I have the quality to prove myself any time I am given the chance. So any time I am on the pitch I have to work hard and play to the instruction of the coach and try to score a goal. That is what I am working on.”
Iheanacho, promoted to the first-team squad in the summer, realises that in Aguero and Wilfried Bony he has some experienced – and expensive – players ahead of him in the pecking order but he is not fazed.
He said: “It is quite difficult because they are professional players, they have played in a lot of competitions and a lot of games and I am just coming up. I need to work hard every day and hopefully I will break in.”
City, who fielded a strong side despite resting Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany and Raheem Sterling, did not even hit top gear as they eased into the quarter-finals at Palace’s expense.
Bony opened the scoring after 22 minutes and Iheanacho set up Kevin De Bruyne for the second just before the interval.
De Bruyne returned the favour for Iheanacho early in the second half and Yaya Toure struck the fourth from the penalty spot. Damien Delaney claimed a late Palace consolation but 17-year-old Manu Garcia raced on to an Iheanacho pass to make it 5-1 in injury time.
The only downside for City was another knee injury for right-back Pablo Zabaleta – an apparent recurrence of the medial ligament problem that has already sidelined him for a month this season. The Argentinian was due to be fully assessed by the club on Thursday.
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All We Imagine as Light
Director: Payal Kapadia
Starring: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Ejari
Based: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Founders: Yazeed Al Shamsi, Fahad Albedah, Mohammed Alkhelewy and Khalid Almunif
Sector: PropTech
Total funding: $1 million
Investors: Sanabil 500 Mena, Hambro Perks' Oryx Fund and angel investors
Number of employees: 8
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
Forced Deportations
While the Lebanese government has deported a number of refugees back to Syria since 2011, the latest round is the first en-mass campaign of its kind, say the Access Center for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization which monitors the conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
“In the past, the Lebanese General Security was responsible for the forced deportation operations of refugees, after forcing them to sign papers stating that they wished to return to Syria of their own free will. Now, the Lebanese army, specifically military intelligence, is responsible for the security operation,” said Mohammad Hasan, head of ACHR.
In just the first four months of 2023 the number of forced deportations is nearly double that of the entirety of 2022.
Since the beginning of 2023, ACHR has reported 407 forced deportations – 200 of which occurred in April alone.
In comparison, just 154 people were forcfully deported in 2022.
Violence
Instances of violence against Syrian refugees are not uncommon.
Just last month, security camera footage of men violently attacking and stabbing an employee at a mini-market went viral. The store’s employees had engaged in a verbal altercation with the men who had come to enforce an order to shutter shops, following the announcement of a municipal curfew for Syrian refugees.
“They thought they were Syrian,” said the mayor of the Nahr el Bared municipality, Charbel Bou Raad, of the attackers.
It later emerged the beaten employees were Lebanese. But the video was an exemplary instance of violence at a time when anti-Syrian rhetoric is particularly heated as Lebanese politicians call for the return of Syrian refugees to Syria.
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
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Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
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Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
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A MAN FROM MOTIHARI
Author: Abdullah Khan
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Pages: 304
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Company profile
Company name: Hayvn
Started: 2018
Founders: Christopher Flinos, Ahmed Ismail
Based: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Sector: financial
Initial investment: undisclosed
Size: 44 employees
Investment stage: series B in the second half of 2023
Investors: Hilbert Capital, Red Acre Ventures
UAE medallists at Asian Games 2023
Gold
Magomedomar Magomedomarov – Judo – Men’s +100kg
Khaled Al Shehi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -62kg
Faisal Al Ketbi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -85kg
Asma Al Hosani – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -52kg
Shamma Al Kalbani – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -63kg
Silver
Omar Al Marzooqi – Equestrian – Individual showjumping
Bishrelt Khorloodoi – Judo – Women’s -52kg
Khalid Al Blooshi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -62kg
Mohamed Al Suwaidi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -69kg
Balqees Abdulla – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -48kg
Bronze
Hawraa Alajmi – Karate – Women’s kumite -50kg
Ahmed Al Mansoori – Cycling – Men’s omnium
Abdullah Al Marri – Equestrian – Individual showjumping
Team UAE – Equestrian – Team showjumping
Dzhafar Kostoev – Judo – Men’s -100kg
Narmandakh Bayanmunkh – Judo – Men’s -66kg
Grigorian Aram – Judo – Men’s -90kg
Mahdi Al Awlaqi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -77kg
Saeed Al Kubaisi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -85kg
Shamsa Al Ameri – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -57kg
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
RESULT
Everton 2 Huddersfield Town 0
Everton: Sigurdsson (47'), Calvert-Lewin (73')
Man of the Match: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)
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MADAME WEB
Director: S.J. Clarkson
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tahar Rahim, Sydney Sweeney
Rating: 3.5/5