Mattia Destro-inspired Roma kept their faint scudetto hopes alive while Parma offered them an unexpected boost with a shock 1-0 win over Napoli in Sunday’s late match.
Destro scored his maiden Serie A hat-trick in Roma’s 3-1 win away to Cagliari to help reduce the gap to leaders Juventus to just five points.
Although Juventus are expected to restore their eight-point lead when they host struggling Livorno on Monday, Roma will hope, for 24 hours at least, that their dream of a first scudetto since 2001 is not yet over.
Roma coach Rudi Garcia told Sky Sport Italia: “The race for the title isn’t over, but it’s not down to us. All we have right now is a tight grip on second place, and we’ll try to hold on to it until the end of the season.”
Destro gave Roma a 32nd-minute lead after finishing off a counter-attack with Gervinho, and doubled Roma’s lead 12 minutes into the second half after being sent clear by former Cagliari midfielder Radja Nainggolan.
Destro completed his hat-trick in the 73rd minute, while Cagliari reduced the arrears a minute before full-time when Mauricio Pinilla beat Morgan De Sanctis from the penalty spot after being brought down by Mehdi Benatia.
Destro was already Roma’s top scorer but has now taken his tally to 13 for the season, five behind Juventus striker Carlos Tevez and Torino’s Ciro Immobile, who are tied on 18.
Roma’s win extended their lead over Napoli to 12 points and they kept that cushion after Rafael Benitez’s men were stunned, for the second time this season by Parma, at the Enzo Tardini stadium.
“This is a really important win for us. Now, we have to believe in our chances to qualify for Europe,” Parma coach Roberto Donadoni told Sky Sport.
Napoli had the ball in the net after 10 minutes but Federico Fernandez was offside while nodding Lorenzo Insigne’s freekick past Antonio Mirante.
Ten minutes after the restart Pepe Reina was left clutching at thin air after Marco Parolo, unmarked on the edge of the box, ran in to drive Gabriel Paletta’s cutback from the right flank first-time into the net for a 55th minute opener.
Napoli striker Gonazalo Higuain was replaced by Duvan Zapata on 68 minutes and shortly after the Colombian thought he had won a penalty after crumbling under a challenge from Mirante.
Although the keeper appeared to make no contact with the ball, Napoli were denied a penalty and Zapata earned a caution for his trouble.
Seven minutes from time Insigne fired wide of Mirante’s far post from a tight angle and then Zapata saw his header from Insigne’s delightful cross tipped over by Mirante in the closing minutes.
Having stunned Juventus 2-0 last week, Benitez was at a loss to explain Napoli’s comparatively limp performance away from home.
“We’re disappointed. We had the game under control in the first half and then they had a shot on goal and they scored,” the Spaniard said.
“But we do need more intensity in both attack and defence. We have a quality side, with its strengths and weaknesses, but we need to be more consistent.”
Fiorentina sit fourth after a 2-1 win at home to Udinese while at the other end of the table Sassuolo injected a sliver of hope into their relegation battle with a shock 2-0 win away to Atalanta, thanks to a double from Nicolae Sansone.
Sassuolo, however, remain second from bottom and are three points from safety.
Earlier Sunday, Antonio Candreva and Senad Lulic struck in either half for 10-man Lazio to secure a precious 2-0 win over Sampdoria.
Edy Reja’s men are now seventh, two points behind Parma and Inter and still in Europa League contention.
Reja, who in midweek said he wouldn’t bet a euro on his side’s Europa League hopes, has since backpedalled.
“I’m proud and satisfied: we’re on a positive streak and we’ll fight all the way to grab a Europa League place.”
In Serie A’s other match on Sunday, Ciro Immobile took his Serie A scoring tally to 18 with an 83rd-minute strike that completed a late fightback as Torino topped Catania away 2-1. Gonzalo Bergessio put Catania ahead just two minutes in, but Alexander Farnerud finally equalised in the 79th before Immobile’s winner four minutes later.
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
Where%20the%20Crawdads%20Sing
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOlivia%20Newman%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Daisy%20Edgar-Jones%2C%20Taylor%20John%20Smith%2C%20Harris%20Dickinson%2C%20David%20Strathairn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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.”
How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
