David Silva, right, the Manchester City winger, fends off the challenge of West Ham's Jonathan Spector yesterday.
David Silva, right, the Manchester City winger, fends off the challenge of West Ham's Jonathan Spector yesterday.

The numbers all add up in Manchester City's favour



Manchester City 2 // West Ham 1

MANCHESTER // Manchester City are tantalisingly close to achieving their goals for the season.

The FA Cup final offers the possibility of the long-awaited first trophy of the modern era, their final four league games the probability of Champions League football.

As West Ham United were seen off, the maths looks good and so, on current form, does the team.

A third successive win completed a glorious fortnight for City, whose cause has been aided by Tottenham Hotspur's stuttering form. Take six points from their remaining fixtures and a top-four finish is guaranteed.

Their recent rally is all the more gratifying because it has occurred in the absence of Carlos Tevez. Minus the talisman, others are sharing the goal-scoring burden.

Nigel de Jong and Pablo Zabaleta rank as infrequent finishers - indeed they began the game with a combined total of two City goals - but they doubled their tally within five first-half minutes.

The one regret was a failure to score the third goal that would have sealed victory. Their reward beckons.

"For all the season we stayed between first and fourth position," Roberto Mancini, the City manager, said. "I think we deserve to be in the Champions League."

There will be a novelty value to it, just as there was to City's opener. David Silva's corner hit Thomas Hitzlsperger on the chest, bouncing out to De Jong, who drilled his 20-yard shot past Robert Green with the assurance of a rather more regular scorer.

Actually, it was his first in two-and-a-half years at Eastlands.

Then Silva's deft chip over the West Ham defence was perfectly weighted for the overlapping Zabaleta.

From an acute angle, the City right-back's shot was probably going in, but his West Ham counterpart made sure, a sliding Lars Jacobsen accidentally applying the finishing touch.

"Probably after these two goals, we thought it was finished," Mancini said.

Instead, West Ham rallied. Joe Hart saved when Robbie Keane sprang the offside trap.

A couple of minutes later, a sliding Demba Ba halved the deficit after Hitzlsperger's cross bounced off Joleon Lescott's hand.

City should have added to their advantage, with Mario Balotelli twice coming perilously close to scoring.

The Italian striker curled a shot against the bar before Green recovered to block Yaya Toure's effort from the rebound.

Then, after Silva had dribbled around Green, Balotelli could not beat a backtracking James Tomkins, who stopped the ball on his own line.

In the end it mattered not. A fifth successive defeat for the Hammers means Championship football is a probability for next season.

With three games remaining, they have no margin for error. "I think it will be between seven to nine [points needed]," said Avram Grant, their manager.

"It's a pressure but more, it's a challenge."

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.

The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8

Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm

Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km

Price: Dh380,000

On sale: now 

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
Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

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Company%20Profile
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Disclaimer

Director: Alfonso Cuaron 

Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville 

Rating: 4/5

Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Rating: 2/5
 
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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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.


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