Tottenham's Harry Kane celebrates scoring his first of two goals in the Spurs' win over Watford on Sunday, January 1, 2017. Eddie Keogh / Reuters
Tottenham's Harry Kane celebrates scoring his first of two goals in the Spurs' win over Watford on Sunday, January 1, 2017. Eddie Keogh / Reuters
Tottenham's Harry Kane celebrates scoring his first of two goals in the Spurs' win over Watford on Sunday, January 1, 2017. Eddie Keogh / Reuters
Tottenham's Harry Kane celebrates scoring his first of two goals in the Spurs' win over Watford on Sunday, January 1, 2017. Eddie Keogh / Reuters

Harry Kane and Tottenham crush Watford in warm-up to huge meeting with Chelsea: Premier League round-up


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Here are summaries for the 19th round of Premier League matches.

Sunday’s results

Watford 1 Tottenham 4

Watford: Kaboul (90'+1)

Tottenham: Kane (27', 33'), Alli (41', 46')

• Tottenham Hotspur recorded an impressive 4-1 win at Watford on Sunday that sent them above Manchester City on goal difference and into the top four of the Premier League.

• More: Richard Jolly on Tottenham's enviable form

An injury-weakened Watford side put up little resistance as two goals by Harry Kane and another from Dele Alli gave Spurs a 3-0 half-time lead.

Alli scored again early in the second half before manager Mauricio Pochettino took off his scorers ahead of the match against leaders Chelsea at White Hart Lane on Wednesday.

Younes Kaboul smuggled home Watford’s injury-time reply with their only shot on target.

Chelsea are 10 points ahead of Pochettino’s men, but Spurs will remember all too well that it was at Stamford Bridge that their title hopes were finally ended last season.

* Agence France-Presse

Arsenal 2 Crystal Palace 0

Arsenal: Giroud (15'), Iwobi (56')

• Olivier Giroud scored a stupendous “scorpion kick” volley as Arsenal climbed to third place in the Premier League table with a 2-0 New Year’s Day victory over Crystal Palace.

Giroud netted with a breath-taking improvised strike reminiscent of Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s recent goal for Manchester United and Alex Iwobi was also on target at the Emirates Stadium.

It left Arsenal nine points below leaders Chelsea and they were joined in the top four by Tottenham Hotspur, who replaced Manchester City in the Champions League places after winning 4-1 at Watford.

Arsenal, who were without the ill Mesut Ozil, finish the weekend three points below second-place Liverpool, with north London rivals Spurs a point back, above City on goal difference.

* Agence France-Presse

Saturday’s results

Chelsea 4 Stoke City 2

Chelsea: Cahill (34'), Willian (57', 65'), Costa (85')

Stoke: Martins Indi (46'), Crouch (64')

• Chelsea equalled Arsenal’s Premier League record of 13 consecutive wins in the same season on Saturday, with goals from Gary Cahill, Diego Costa and two from Willian bringing the leaders a 4-2 win over Stoke City.

Stoke goalkeeper Lee Grant had made a series of fine saves from a rampant home side before Cesc Fabregas’s pinpoint flighted corner found Cahill’s head at the near post and the captain nodded home.

But barely a minute into the second half Bruno Martins Indi poked in an equaliser after Peter Crouch headed down a free kick by Charlie Adam.

Willian restored the lead twice in a frantic seven minutes either side of a 64th-minute strike from Crouch before top scorer Costa capped new year celebrations for Antonio Conte’s side with Chelsea’s fourth goal.

* Reuters

Liverpool 1 Manchester City 0

Liverpool: Wijnaldum (8')

• A thundering header from Dutchman Georginio Wijnaldum gave Liverpool a 1-0 win over northwest rivals Manchester City in their Premier League clash on Saturday.

• Richard Jolly: Liverpool's list of impressive wins grows by one

Wijnaldum leapt above City defender Aleksandar Kolarov to meet a pinpoint Adam Lallana cross and give Liverpool the advantage in just the eighth minute.

Jurgen Klopp’s team looked the sharper and more confident side throughout, although they did have to cope with spells of pressure from City after the break. The game however failed to live up to expectations, with few chances created.

* Reuters

Manchester United 2 Middlesbrough 1

United: Martial (85'), Pogba (86')

Boro: Leadbitter (67')

• Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial scored late goals as Manchester United came from behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1 on Saturday and spare Jose Mourinho the embarrassment of losing to his former assistant Aitor Karanka.

Grant Leadbitter latched on to a clever knock-down from Alvaro Negredo to give the visitors the lead in the 67th minute against the run of play after United had hit the woodwork twice and had a goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic ruled out.

Top scorer Ibrahimovic set up the sparkling Martial to power a shot past former United goalkeeper Victor Valdes in the 85th minute and one minute later substitute Juan Mata crossed for record signing Pogba to head into the top corner.

United stayed sixth on 36 points after a fifth straight league victory while Boro are 16th on 18 points, four above the relegation zone.

* Reuters

Burnley 4 Sunderland 1

Burnley: Gray (31', 51', 53'), Barnes (67' PEN)

Sunderland: Defoe (71')

• Andre Gray celebrated his maiden Premier League hat-trick as Burnley headed into the New Year sitting comfortably in mid-table after a 4-1 demolition of struggling Sunderland at Turf Moor on Saturday.

The 25-year old striker opened the scoring in the 31st minute, powering the ball past goalkeeper Vito Mannone after two Sunderland defenders collided.

He added a brace in the space of two minutes early in the second half before Ashley Barnes completed the rout with a 67th-minute penalty.

Jermain Defoe pulled one back for Sunderland after a fine solo run by Adnan Januzaj, but it was scant consolation for the Black Cats, who remain in the relegation zone in 18th place with 14 points from 19 games.

* Reuters

Southampton 1 West Brom 2

Southampton: Long (41')

West Brom: Phillips (43'), Robson-Kanu (50') | Red card: Van Dijk (89')

• Wales forward Hal Robson-Kanu struck a second-half winner as West Bromwich Albion came from a goal down to beat Southampton 2-1 in the English Premier League on Saturday.

Shane Long had put Southampton ahead in the 41st minute, only for Matt Phillips to equalise two minutes later in a game between two mid-table sides.

Southampton enjoyed plenty of first-half possession and Ronald Koeman’s side made it count shortly before the break, when Long sent a glancing header past goalkeeper Ben Foster from Dusan Tadic’s corner.

Phillips replied for West Brom almost immediately, steering home a low shot from the edge of the area.

Robson-Kanu, who scored a memorable goal for Wales against Belgium at the European Championship, completed the turnaround in the 50th minute when he collected a reverse pass from Phillips before smashing a rising shot into the top corner.

Southampton’s task became even harder in the 88th minute when centre half Virgil van Dijk was sent off for bringing down West Brom striker Salomon Rondon.

* Associated Press

Leicester City 1 West Ham 0

Leicester: Slimani (20')

• Striker Islam Slimani scored the only goal as champions Leicester City beat West Ham United 1-0 on Saturday to climb six points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

Slimani, who had earlier hit the post, met Marc Albrighton’s cross with an emphatic header past keeper Darren Randolph after 20 minutes.

Leicester’s fifth victory in 19 league matches lifted them to 15th with 20 points and ended a run of three wins for West Ham, who came closest when Michail Antonio’s shot hit the bar.

The victory rewarded Leicester for their fine opening half-hour after which West Ham took control and dominated possession but failed to score despite twice as many shots as their opponents.

* Reuters

Swansea City 0 Bournemouth 3

Bournemouth: Afobe (25'), Fraser (45'+1'), King (88')

• Bournemouth thrashed Swansea 3-0 with first-half strikes from Benik Afobe and Ryan Fraser followed by a late one from Joshua King on Saturday, leaving the Swans nailed to the bottom of the Premier League table.

Eddie Howe’s Cherries took the lead in the 25th minute with Afobe scoring from close range on the rebound after Jordi Amat narrowly avoided deflecting the ball into his own net.

Fraser raced into the area in stoppage-time at the end of the half to smash in a Junior Stanislas cross, doubling the visitors’ lead.

Swansea, under caretaker manager Alan Curtis, struggled to gain possession throughout the second half, before Bournemouth substitute Joshua King shot past goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski to seal the win.

* Reuters

Hull City 2 Everton 2

Hull: Dawson (6'), Snodgrass (65')

Everton: Marshall (45', og), Barkley (84')

• England midfielder Ross Barkley headed a late leveller to salvage a 2-2 draw for Everton at Hull City in the Premier League on Friday.

Barkley headed the ball home in the 84th minute from left back Leighton Baines’ cross after Robert Snodgrass had put Hull ahead with a superb free kick into the top corner 19 minutes earlier.

Defender Michael Dawson had given Hull an early lead when he scored from Curtis Davies’ flicked pass in the sixth minute but an own goal by home keeper David Marshall at a corner gifted Everton an equaliser on the stroke of halftime.

Hull, who had lost five of their previous seven matches, climbed to second from bottom in the table with 13 points from 19 matches. Everton are seventh with 27 points, 19 shy of leaders Chelsea.

* Reuters

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MATCH INFO

Europa League semi-final, second leg
Atletico Madrid (1) v Arsenal (1)

Where: Wanda Metropolitano
When: Thursday, May 3
Live: On BeIN Sports HD

Company profile

Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space

Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)

Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)

Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi 

Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution) 

Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space  

Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019

THE DEALS

Hamilton $60m x 2 = $120m

Vettel $45m x 2 = $90m

Ricciardo $35m x 2 = $70m

Verstappen $55m x 3 = $165m

Leclerc $20m x 2 = $40m

TOTAL $485m

Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3

Fight card

Preliminaries:

Nouredine Samir (UAE) v Sheroz Kholmirzav (UZB); Lucas Porst (SWE) v Ellis Barboza (GBR); Mouhmad Amine Alharar (MAR) v Mohammed Mardi (UAE); Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) v Spyro Besiri (GRE); Aslamjan Ortikov (UZB) v Joshua Ridgwell (GBR)

Main card:

Carlos Prates (BRA) v Dmitry Valent (BLR); Bobirjon Tagiev (UZB) v Valentin Thibaut (FRA); Arthur Meyer (FRA) v Hicham Moujtahid (BEL); Ines Es Salehy (BEL) v Myriame Djedidi (FRA); Craig Coakley (IRE) v Deniz Demirkapu (TUR); Artem Avanesov (ARM) v Badreddine Attif (MAR); Abdulvosid Buranov (RUS) v Akram Hamidi (FRA)

Title card:

Intercontinental Lightweight: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) v Angel Marquez (ESP)

Intercontinental Middleweight: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) v Francesco Iadanza (ITA)

Asian Featherweight: Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) v Phillip Delarmino (PHI)

Royal wedding inspired menu

Ginger, citrus and orange blossom iced tea

Avocado ranch dip with crudites

Cucumber, smoked salmon and cream cheese mini club sandwiches

Elderflower and lemon syllabub meringue

How to help

Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:

2289 - Dh10

2252 - Dh50

6025 - Dh20

6027 - Dh100

6026 - Dh200

Gender pay parity on track in the UAE

The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.

"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."

Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.

"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.

As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.