Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, last night saw his side reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League — and his injury list increase.
Two goals from the ever-improving Javier Hernandez were enough to overcome Marseille at Old Trafford and secure their passage thanks to a 2-1 win on the night and on aggregate.
However, they had to endure a nervous end to this last-16 second leg after a Wes Brown own goal with eight minutes remaining.
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More
• Javier Hernandez brace puts Man Utd through in Champions League
• The Premier League's French connection
• This season could be a grand one for Ferguson to go out on top at United
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Hernandez's remarkable impact has been a huge bonus for United, according to Ferguson.
He opened the scoring in the fifth minute by getting on the end of a cross from Wayne Rooney. His second in the 76th minute was almost identical with substitute Antonio Valencia supplying the delivery.
"I think we are surprised. When we bought him we thought it would take him some time to adjust first of all," Ferguson said.
"He has adjusted to the physical part very well and he is lasting 90 minutes very well now.
"Hernandez's pace and movement is helping us. He is a real handful. You see the first goal - the boy's movement is fantastic."
Ferguson's satisfaction at reaching the last eight for a fifth successive season was tempered by the fear that both John O'Shea and his replacement Rafael face a spell on the sidelines after suffering suspected hamstring injuries.
The treatment room is already filling up with Nemanja Vidic unavailable last night with a calf problem.
Rio Ferdinand, Darren Fletcher, Michael Owen, Park Ji-sung, Jonny Evans and the goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard were among those also unavailable for selection.
Ferguson could be short of numbers going into a crucial phase of the campaign with United still on course for the treble.
He was pleased with the response of the team after O'Shea and Rafael made early exits.
"The balance of the team was affected with two defenders coming off. There was a lack of experience in the team and that could have cost us. But we hung on," Ferguson said.
"They are a very powerful team and their delivery into the box was very good. They kept us under pressure a lot of times.
"When we played our football particularly in their half of the field we did OK. We always looked comfortable on the ball.
"But we just couldn't get enough of it in the second half in their half of the field. They kept us on the edge of our box a lot."
Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said: "My first feeling is one of regret. We let our chance slip and we are out.
"Manchester United are not a fantastic side and they suffered two injuries during the game. They were not at their best but we could not capitalise on that.
"But we are a young side, who are learning, and it will take time. At this level small details win you games."
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Eriksen 80')
Inter Milan 0
NBA Finals so far
(Toronto lead 3-1 in best-of-seven series_
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109
Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123
Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
SERIES INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Table
The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff
1 United States 8 6 2 0 0 12 0.412
2 Scotland 8 4 3 0 1 9 0.139
3 Namibia 7 4 3 0 0 8 0.008
4 Oman 6 4 2 0 0 8 -0.139
5 UAE 7 3 3 0 1 7 -0.004
6 Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 PNG 8 0 8 0 0 0 -0.458
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
