A late goal by Ismaeel Mohammad secured 10-man Lekhwiya a 2-2 draw with fellow Doha side Al Sadd to win 4-3 on aggregate and move into the Asian Champions League quarter-finals for the second successive season on Tuesday.
Lekhwiya had a 2-1 advantage from the first leg in this all-Qatar Round of 16 clash, played at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha.
Lekhwiya looked set to cruise to victory when they opened the scoring through Youssef Msakni in the 13th minute.
But they were knocked out of their stride in the 34th minute when defender Ahmed Yasser was sent off for a second bookable offence for a foul on Khalfan Ibrahim.
Brazilian star Muriqui scored with a great strike from the resultant free kick and the tone of the match completely changed.
It was dominated by Al Sadd after that as Lekhwiya tried to desperately defend their precious one-goal advantage.
However, Sadd breached their opponents’ defences in the 63rd minute, Sadd midfielder Ali Asadalla scoring with a calm and composed finish into the far corner after a great pass by Nadir Belhadj from the left wing.
Lekhwiya coach Michael Laudrup then pulled a rabbit out of the hat as he brought on Mohammad to replace Slovakian winger Vladimir Weiss in the 64th minute.
The winning move sprang from a failed Sadd attack.
Lekhwiya skipper Karim Boudiaf made a run down the left flank and crossed to Mohammad, who controlled the ball with his right foot and then fired the killer shot with his left.
In the late match, Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal produced a clinical performance to defeat Iranian outfit Persepolis 3-0 – 3-1 on aggregate – and progress to the quarter-finals for the fourth time.
Hilal utilised home advantage to the hilt.
The first goal of the match was through Yousef Al Salem when he found the back of the net in the 29th minute.
Mohammed Al Shalhoub then calmly converted a penalty in the 57th minute and in the dying moments of the match Abdulaziz Al Dawsari scored to give Hilal a comprehensive victory.
Earlier, Yusuke Kobayashi netted a crucial second-half goal as Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol staved off a comeback by Suwon Samsung FC to reach the quarter-finals for the second time in three years.
Kashiwa held a 3-2 lead from the first leg in South Korea but goals by Chong Te-se and Koo Ja-ryong put Suwon ahead on aggregate before Kobayashi struck in the 65th minute to level things at 4-4 and send Kashiwa through on away goals.
There was better fortune for another Korean side as a 72nd minute goal by Brazilian striker Edu saw Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors beat Beijing Guoan 1-0 in China to advance 2-1 on aggregate.
Suwon pulled a goal back at Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium after 26 minutes through North Korea international forward Chong who received a long pass with his back to goal and swivelled to fire home an unstoppable effort.
The Korean side turned up the pressure after the interval with Kwon Chang-hoon and Seo Jung-jin forcing fine saves out of Takanori Sugeno but the Kashiwa goalkeeper was left helpless in the 54th minute when Koo fired home from close range after a goalmouth scramble to make it 2-0 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate for the visitors.
The home side were stung into action and they got the crucial goal 11 minutes later after a fine pass by Cristiano set up his Brazilian compatriot Leandro who rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong but saw his shot blocked by a defender. The ball fell kindly to Kobayashi who fired into the roof of the net to put his team into the last eight.
At the Beijing Workers Stadium, the home side led on away goals against Jeonbuk after a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Korea.
However, the K League Classic champions dominated play and took a deserved lead with 18 minutes left when Lee Jae-sung’s first-time pass sent Edu clear and the Brazilian made no mistake as he slotted past goalkeeper Yang Zhi.
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Name: The Concept
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Founded: 2017
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Sector: Aviation and space industry
Funding: $250,000
Future plans: Looking to raise $1 million investment to boost expansion and develop new products
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
