James Milner misses the penalty during Liverpool's goalless draw with Southampton on Sunday. Peter Byrne / PA
James Milner misses the penalty during Liverpool's goalless draw with Southampton on Sunday. Peter Byrne / PA

Liverpool reclaim third place, Swansea climb out of drop zone: Premier League round-up



A round-up of all the results and reports from this weekend’s Premier League action. All kick-off times UAE (+3 BST)

FRIDAY

West Ham United 1 Tottenham Hotspur 0

West Ham: Lanzini (65')

Analysis: Greg Lea reports from the London Stadium

• Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League title hopes suffered a crushing blow as their nine-match winning run ended in a 1-0 defeat at West Ham United.

Manuel Lanzini’s scrappy 65th-minute effort decided a derby that Tottenham had largely dominated without ever reaching the levels that had raised hopes of a first title since 1961.

Tottenham could have cut Chelsea’s advantage to one point with a victory but instead the gap will stretch to a seemingly unbridgeable seven with three games left if Chelsea beat Middlesbrough at home on Monday.

West Ham, the first team to stop Tottenham scoring since Liverpool in early February, moved up to ninth with 42 points and are now mathematically safe.

Home keeper Adrian frustrated Tottenham with first-half saves in quick succession from Dele Alli and Harry Kane and he also did well to keep out Son Heung-Min after the break as the visitors probed for an opener.

Tottenham were stunned though when West Ham broke forward and Aaron Cresswell’s cross eventually squirmed its way to Lanzini who smashed the ball past Hugo Lloris from six metres out to speak wild celebrations around the ground.

Chelsea now need six points from their last four games to be crowned champions in Antonio Conte’s first season in charge.

* Reuters

SATURDAY

Manchester City 5 Crystal Palace 0

Man City: Silva (2'), Kompany (49'), De Bruyne (59'), Sterling (82'), Otamendi (90'+2)

Analysis: Richard Jolly reports from the Etihad Stadium

• Manchester City moved into third place in the Premier League table, level on points with Liverpool, after thrashing Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

David Silva set the tone for the afternoon when the Spanish midfielder opened the scoring after just 114 seconds.

Despite enjoying near total dominance, City had to wait until the 49th minute to double their lead, with captain Vincent Kompany finding the target.

After that, the floodgates opened for City as Kevin De Bruyne got in on the act 10 minutes later, before goals from Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Otamendi late on completed the rout.

The victory moves City above Liverpool on goal difference and keeps their top four hopes in their own hands.

* The National staff

Bournemouth 2 Stoke City 2

Bournemouth: Stanislas (62'), Shawcross (81' og)

Stoke: Mousset (33' og), Diouf (73')

• Bournemouth secured their top-flight status for another year after a 2-2 draw against Stoke at Dean Court.

When a Stoke corner curled into the penalty area in the 33rd minute, Bournemouth’s France Under-20 international Lys Mousset, making his first Premier League start, glanced the ball into his own net, giving the visitors their first away league goal in more than 10 hours.

Junior Stanislas equalised for Bournemouth in the 62nd minute before Stoke’s Mame Biram Diouf bundled in his first goal for 12 months in the 73rd minute.

Eddie Howe’s side rescued their priceless point thanks to an 81st minute own goal from Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross.

* Agence France-Presse

Burnley 2 Stoke City 2

Burnley: Vokes (56', 86')

West Brom: Rondón (66'), Dawson (78')

• Burnley were made to wait to confirm their survival after being held to a 2-2 draw by West Bromwich Albion at Turf Moor.

The hosts, seven points above the bottom three, went ahead after 56 minutes when Wales forward Sam Vokes swept home.

Albion striker Salomon Rondon equalised 10 minutes later and Craig Dawson, on his 27th birthday, headed the visitors in front in the 78th minute.

Vokes struck again with just four minutes left, heading in after Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster misjudged Robbie Brady’s cross.

* Agence France-Presse

Hull City 0 Sunderland 2

Sunderland: Jones (69'), Defoe (90'+2)

• Hull City’s hopes of avoiding relegation suffered a body blow after goals from Billy Jones and Jermain Defoe condemned them to a 2-0 home defeat by already axed Sunderland.

The result left Hull one place above the drop zone in 17th on 34 points from 36 games, two more than 18th-placed Swansea who were hosting Everton later in the day.

Right back Jones headed in a 69th-minute opener against the run of play and Defoe bundled in the second goal in stoppage time, although video replays showed he was offside when a free kick from the right was delivered into his path.

Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford enjoyed a superb afternoon as he pulled off a string of excellent saves, denying Sam Lucas, Lazar Markovic and Abel Hernandez as Hull pressed forward relentlessly but were let down by poor finishing.

* Reuters

Leicester City 3 Watford 0

Leicester: Ndidi (38'), Mahrez (58'), Albrighton (90'+3)

• Leicester City climbed into the top half of the Premier League for the first time since September with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Watford.

With both teams safely in mid-table, the opening exchanges lacked energy until Wilfred Ndidi finished emphatically after Danny Drinkwater’s cross was not dealt with by Watford’s defence.

Having earlier hit the crossbar, Riyad Mahrez, playing his 100th Premier League match, doubled the advantage by capitalising on more sloppy defending to stab home in the 58th minute.

Marc Albrighton completed the victory with an excellent third, finishing off the woodwork after Jamie Vardy’s break in the 93rd minute.

Leicester, who fell as low as 18th in February, climbed to ninth with 43 points from 35 games — three more than Watford in 15th.

* Reuters

Swansea City 1 Everton 0

Swansea: Llorente (29')

• Swansea gave themselves hope of Premier League survival as Fernando Llorente’s first-half header secured a 1-0 win at home to Everton on Saturday that took the Welsh club out of the relegation zone.

Llorente’s goal, his 13th of the season, lifted Swansea a point clear of the bottom three, leapfrogging Hull City who earlier on Saturday lost at home to already relegated Sunderland.

Swansea can now decide their own destiny, with two league games left to play this season.

Everton may have already qualified for the Europa League but that did not stop them giving Swansea several scares before the hosts held on to a precious win at the Liberty Stadium.

* Agence France-Presse

SUNDAY

Liverpool 0 Southampton 0

• James Milner missed a penalty as Liverpool wasted a chance to bolster their bid to qualify for the Uefa Champions League in an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Southampton.

With rivals Arsenal and Manchester United clashing in Sunday’s late kick-off, Jurgen Klopp’s team had a golden opportunity to seize the initiative in the race for a top-four finish.

But Liverpool never got out of first gear at Anfield in a forgettable contest best remembered for Fraser Forster’s brilliant penalty save from Milner.

It was Milner’s first missed penalty since November 2009, when he was playing for Aston Villa against Bolton Wanderers, and it summed up the feeling that this would not be Liverpool’s day.

Liverpool move above Manchester City into third place, but they will hope fifth-placed United fail to close the gap with a win at Arsenal.

* Agence France-Presse

Still to come:

Arsenal v Manchester United (7pm)

MONDAY

Chelsea v Middlesbrough (11pm)

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Results

3pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m, Winner: Lancienegaboulevard, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Fawzi Nass (trainer).

3.35pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Turf) 1,600m, Winner: Al Mukhtar Star, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.

4.10pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner: Gundogdu, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.

4.45pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Speedy Move, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar.

5.20pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Moqarrar, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy.

5.55pm: Handicap Dh175,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Dolman, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

Match info

Uefa Champions League Group B

Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight

My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci
Pushkin Press

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Eco%20Way%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20December%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ivan%20Kroshnyi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electric%20vehicles%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bootstrapped%20with%20undisclosed%20funding.%20Looking%20to%20raise%20funds%20from%20outside%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
World Cup League Two

Results

Oman beat Nepal by 18 runs

Oman beat United States by six wickets

Nepal beat United States by 35 runs

Oman beat Nepal by eight wickets

 

Fixtures

Tuesday, Oman v United States

Wednesday, Nepal v United States

 

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg

Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday

Second leg

Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm

Game is on BeIN Sports

SERIE A FIXTURES

Saturday Spezia v Lazio (6pm), Juventus v Torino (9pm), Inter Milan v Bologna (7.45pm)

Sunday Verona v Cagliari (3.30pm), Parma v Benevento, AS Roma v Sassuolo, Udinese v Atalanta (all 6pm), Crotone v Napoli (9pm), Sampdoria v AC Milan (11.45pm)

Monday Fiorentina v Genoa (11.45pm)

Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

DMZ facts
  • The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
  • It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
  • The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
  • It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
  • Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
  • Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
  • Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012. 
  • Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
Brief scores:

Toss: Kerala Knights, opted to fielf

Pakhtoons 109-5 (10 ov)

Fletcher 32; Lamichhane 3-17

Kerala Knights 110-2 (7.5 ov)

Morgan 46 not out, Stirling 40

The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

Who are the Sacklers?

The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.

Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. 

It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.

Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".

The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.

Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.

Match info

UAE v Bolivia, Friday, 6.25pm, Maktoum bin Rashid Stadium, Dubai


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