Jose Mourinho enjoyed a happy return to his native city of Lisbon on Tuesday as Chelsea defeated Sporting Lisbon 1-0 in Champions League Group G action at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
The victory takes Chelsea top of the group on four points after Schalke and Maribor drew 1-1 in Germany to leave them on two points apiece and Sporting bottom with one point.
The defeat for Sporting ended their 16 match unbeaten record at home in European competition.
The 51-year-old Mourinho endured a frustrating evening as his side dominated proceedings but wasted a hatful of chances before hanging on against a resurgent second half Sporting side who came close on several occasions to salvaging a point.
“Three points is three points. We lost two at home and now we have picked up three away from home,” said Mourinho.
“Chelsea are a young team who sometimes show a lack of efficiency in front of goal. Sporting lost but they have arguments that they can qualify.
“We didn’t kill the game off but we played very well, very compact and we had complete dominance in defence. Now it is time to rest and then we will think about Arsenal,” added Mourinho in reference to Sunday’s Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea got the breakthrough their first half dominance deserved, and the only goal of the match from a set-piece on 34 minutes.
A far post cross from the left flank by Eden Hazard was met by Serbia’s Nemanja Matic and his looping header drifted over the head of Sporting captain Rui Patricio and into the back of the net.
Chelsea captain John Terry, who turned in a solid performance in the centre of defence and was making his 100th Champions League appearance, said his side should have wrapped it up sooner.
“They’re a very good side and played well but we had so many chances to kill it off but luckily Matic got the goal and we got the win,” Terry told Sky TV.
“We lost our first group match last season and came back to qualify but we had to win tonight and we got it so we’re top of the group and in control again.
“I’m very proud to reach a hundred matches, not many players have done that and I’m feeling great at the moment.”
For Matic, it was his second career Champions League goal in a country he knows well having played for Sporting’s city rivals Benfica, for three seasons before rejoining Chelsea in 2013.
“We played very well in the first half and played our game but we didn’t take our chances,” said Matic who came in for some stick from the Sporting fans over his links to Benfica.
“Well Sporting is a big rival of Benfica so I expected it but I’m very happy to score. It doesn’t matter who gets the goals as long as the team wins,” added Matic.
Mourinho, who enjoyed an early spell in his career as an assistant coach to Bobby Robson at Sporting between 1992 and 1993, gradually lost his composed demeanour on the sidelines as the match grew into a nailbiting affair.
Diego Costa broke the offside trap as early as the second minute and was clean through on goal from 30 yards but his low shot was deflected behind by Patricio.
Sporting came out after the break with more venom and came closest to their first goal of the match on 55 minutes when former Manchester United winger Nani spurned a close range chance with just Chelsea ‘keeper Thibaut Courtois to beat.
Algerian Islam Slimani also threatened with a header from point blank range but Courtois was again well positioned to make the save.
Egyptian international Mohamed Salah had a chance to put the result beyond doubt in injury time when Chelsea again breached the Sporting back four but the excellent Patricio blocked again in a man-of-the-match performance for the home side.
Chelsea’s next match is at home against Maribor while Sporting travel to Schalke on October 21.
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SPEC SHEET: APPLE M3 MACBOOK AIR (13")
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The Specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cylinder petrol
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How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
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Our family matters legal consultant
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Fast X
Director: Louis Leterrier
Stars: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jason Momoa, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Brie Larson, Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron
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SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
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The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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Power: 620bhp
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Price: Dh898,000
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A QUIET PLACE
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Rating: 4/5
RESULTS
6.30pm: Longines Conquest Classic Dh150,000 Maiden 1,200m.
Winner: Halima Hatun, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer).
7.05pm: Longines Gents La Grande Classique Dh155,000 Handicap 1,200m.
Winner: Moosir, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
7.40pm: Longines Equestrian Collection Dh150,000 Maiden 1,600m.
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10pm: Longines Moon Phase Master Collection Dh170,000 Handicap 2,000m.
Winner:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'Midnights'
Artist: Taylor Swift
Label: Republic Records
Rating: 4/5
Scoreline
Liverpool 4
Oxlade-Chamberlain 9', Firmino 59', Mane 61', Salah 68'
Manchester City 3
Sane 40', Bernardo Silva 84', Gundogan 90'+1
Diriyah project at a glance
- Diriyah’s 1.9km King Salman Boulevard, a Parisian Champs-Elysees-inspired avenue, is scheduled for completion in 2028
- The Royal Diriyah Opera House is expected to be completed in four years
- Diriyah’s first of 42 hotels, the Bab Samhan hotel, will open in the first quarter of 2024
- On completion in 2030, the Diriyah project is forecast to accommodate more than 100,000 people
- The $63.2 billion Diriyah project will contribute $7.2 billion to the kingdom’s GDP
- It will create more than 178,000 jobs and aims to attract more than 50 million visits a year
- About 2,000 people work for the Diriyah Company, with more than 86 per cent being Saudi citizens
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Revibe
Started: 2022
Founders: Hamza Iraqui and Abdessamad Ben Zakour
Based: UAE
Industry: Refurbished electronics
Funds raised so far: $10m
Investors: Flat6Labs, Resonance and various others
Ramez Gab Min El Akher
Creator: Ramez Galal
Starring: Ramez Galal
Streaming on: MBC Shahid
Rating: 2.5/5
Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
SPECS
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder turbo and 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 235hp and 310hp
Torque: 258Nm and 271Nm
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Company Profile
Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices
MATCH INFO
Norwich City 0 Southampton 3 (Ings 49', Armstrong 54', Redmond 79')
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SupplyVan
Based: Dubai, UAE
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 29
Sector: MRO and e-commerce
Funding: Seed
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: DarDoc
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founders: Samer Masri, Keswin Suresh
Sector: HealthTech
Total funding: $800,000
Investors: Flat6Labs, angel investors + Incubated by Hub71, Abu Dhabi's Department of Health
Number of employees: 10
Cases of coronavirus in the GCC as of March 15
Saudi Arabia – 103 infected, 0 dead, 1 recovered
UAE – 86 infected, 0 dead, 23 recovered
Bahrain – 210 infected, 0 dead, 44 recovered
Kuwait – 104 infected, 0 dead, 5 recovered
Qatar – 337 infected, 0 dead, 4 recovered
Oman – 19 infected, 0 dead, 9 recovered
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qureos
Based: UAE
Launch year: 2021
Number of employees: 33
Sector: Software and technology
Funding: $3 million
