A spiky, feisty, fascinating game ended amid fury and a swirl of recrimination against the referee Howard Webb, who gave Liverpool one penalty but denied them another and then failed to send Steven Gerrard off for a tackle that clearly warranted a second caution. But of greater long-term importance is what this means for Arsenal – and perhaps for the title race in general.
Liverpool, who trail the Premier League leaders Chelsea by four points, are left fighting on just one front, and freshness might augment their qualities, while Arsenal, after surviving some anxious moments, have regained their footing after a hugely disappointing previous week.
Battered 5-1 at Anfield last Saturday and sluggish in drawing against Manchester United on Wednesday in the league, Arsenal rediscovered some spark in yesterday's FA Cup fifth-round encounter and should be reinvigorated, morale restored.
Yet for Arsenal, the day had begun with an unwanted distraction, as Olivier Giroud appeared to confirm on Twitter that British newspaper reports of an extramarital affair were true. Giroud almost certainly would not have started anyway, rested for Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich, offering a first start to the France international Yaya Sanogo.
The 21-year-old striker looked raw, and was nervy early on, but once he settled, he provided an outlet. He had a key role in the opening goal, taking down Mesut Ozil’s cross and striking a firm shot that cannoned into the path of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who calmly knocked in the loose ball.
In the absence of Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott through injury, Arsenal have lacked dynamism going forward in recent games, which in turn has diminished the impact of Ozil, left with nobody to slide his through-balls to. Oxlade-Chamberlain, quick, strong and direct, offered that drive, and it was his capacity to run beyond defenders that led to the second goal as he accelerated onto Ozil’s pass and cut the ball back for Lukas Podolski, who slammed home after 47 minutes.
That seemed harsh on Liverpool, who had a number of chances – Sturridge was twice denied by Lukas Fabianski, who also made a fine save with his foot from Luis Suarez, and sliced wide in front of an open goal having rounded the goalkeeper – and they were given a lifeline when Podolski needlessly hacked at Suarez in the penalty area. Gerrard converted the penalty and, at that point, Liverpool had over half an hour to hammer on the door against an increasingly jittery Arsenal.
They should have got back into it after 70 minutes, Oxlade-Chamberlain clearly blocking Suarez in the box right in front of Webb but, mystifyingly, he decided not to award a penalty.
It was not the only baffling decision from England’s 2014 World Cup official. He also failed to book Podolski in the first half for what looked to be a cautionable foul and then did not show a second yellow card to Gerrard for a lunge on Oxlade-Chamberlain toward the end of the match, at which point the whole stadium seemed to join in a chant of, “You’re not fit to referee”.
To say the controversy overshadowed a fine FA Cup match would be misleading, for the controversy was merely part of it.
Arsenal rested players before Wednesday’s crunch game against European champions Bayern, but if every cup tie had the fury and the drive of the final minutes, nobody would talk about the competition losing its lustre.
These are two teams desperate for a trophy, two teams who probably see themselves as being on a level. Three matches between them have now brought a comfortable win apiece, plus this tense, tight struggle. Arsenal got the break and it not only has taken them into a FA Cup quarter-final against Everton, but might also saved their season.
sports@thenational.ae
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
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5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: Eghel De Pine, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: AF Sheaar, Szczepan Mazur, Saeed Al Shamsi
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA) Group 3 Dh500,000 1,600m | Winner: RB Torch, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (TB) Listed Dh380,000 1,600m | Winner: Forjatt, Chris Hayes, Nicholas Bachalard
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 1,400m | Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Ridha ben Attia
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About RuPay
A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards
It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.
In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
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.”
HAJJAN
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Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
Honeymoonish
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Company%20profile
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Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
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TRAP
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Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media