LIVERPOOL // Reality checks are rarely pleasant. Euphoria is a heady emotion, experienced all too rarely by Liverpool recently. But, when a fifth successive victory and a fifth clean sheet in a row beckoned, Wigan Athletic supplied the unwanted reminder that Kenny Dalglish's return is not a panacea for every occasion.
Steve Gohouri deflected attention from Raul Meireles and Luis Suarez with an equaliser and disrupted Liverpool's bid to trade a relegation struggle for a top-four place within a couple of months.
"It's not been too damaging," Dalglish said, and the ultimate value of the shared point may be greater for Wigan, who have spent the season veering in and out of the relegation zone.
In one respect, it was merited. Liverpool failed to reach the levels of excellence displayed in the 1-0 victory at Chelsea last week while, their lowly position notwithstanding, Wigan have a group of players with the ability to excel at some of the game's grander stages.
The attacking trio of Charles N'Zogbia, Hugo Rodallega and Victor Moses are equipped with skill and pace on the counter-attack that enables them to trouble their supposed superiors.
Nevertheless, it was a set-piece that enabled them to equalise. N'Zogbia was the supplier, Antolin Alcaraz flicked the ball on and Gohouri applied a close-range finish.
"Their goal's offside but these things happen," Dalglish said. "We haven't had much luck this season," countered Roberto Martinez. "The performance deserved a point."
If it were an isolated raid forward for both Alcaraz and Gohouri, both were part of a greater saga, the coruscating contest between Suarez and the Wigan defence.
Three of them were cautioned for fouling the Uruguayan, and Gary Caldwell could have been booked a second time. Martinez, however, said of Suarez: "I thought three-quarters of the free kicks he got weren't free kicks. He was clever."
Granted a full debut for Liverpool, Suarez, who had scored as a substitute against Stoke City 10 days before, was inches away from adding a goal on his first start.
The woodwork was struck at either end, a curling shot clipping the far post in the first half and, with Ali al Habsi, the Omani goalkeeper, having abandoned his attempt to stop it, a free kick thudding off the bar in Liverpool's pursuit of a winner.
A blur of incessant movement, Suarez, the former Ajax striker, provided a contrast with his predecessor in the Liverpool attack, the departed Fernando Torres.
"He's very energetic and skilful and he loves to score goals," Dalglish said. "He was very unlucky not to get on the score sheet."
The player who did, and the personification of the regime change, occupies a peculiar place in Liverpool's recent history.
Meireles is by far Hodgson's best signing yet also is one of the major beneficiaries of Dalglish's appointment. A fifth goal in six games was beautifully taken.
Gohouri half-cleared Fabio Aurelio's cross, heading the ball towards the edge of the penalty area. There, however, lurked Meireles, whose response was delivered with delightful technique, a volley of considerable power and enviable precision that beat al Habsi.
"He scored a great goal and his goals are a real bonus for us," Dalglish said. It was all the more impressive as, his manager revealed, the Portuguese was hindered by the virus that led to his removal.
"During the first half, he didn't look too clever. He came in and spewed up," Dalglish said.
Shorn of Meireles, minus the injured Steven Gerrard and with a tiring Suarez mounting a desperate attempt to find a winner, Liverpool possessed urgency, but not the control that was apparent at Chelsea.
"There was a little bit of an edge missing," Dalglish said. "And if it had been there, the final pass would have been better. The sharpness was away a wee bit."
sports@thenational.ae
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The Lowdown
Kesari
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Anubhav Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
Brahmastra%3A%20Part%20One%20-%20Shiva
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ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
The biog
Year of birth: 1988
Place of birth: Baghdad
Education: PhD student and co-researcher at Greifswald University, Germany
Hobbies: Ping Pong, swimming, reading
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
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
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Company%20Profile
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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
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEjari%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERiyadh%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYazeed%20Al%20Shamsi%2C%20Fahad%20Albedah%2C%20Mohammed%20Alkhelewy%20and%20Khalid%20Almunif%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPropTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%241%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESanabil%20500%20Mena%2C%20Hambro%20Perks'%20Oryx%20Fund%20and%20angel%20investors%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Bahrain%20GP
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The%20specs%3A%20Panamera%20Turbo%20E-Hybrid
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Results
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RESULTS
Time; race; prize; distance
4pm: Maiden; (D) Dh150,000; 1,200m
Winner: General Line, Xavier Ziani (jockey), Omar Daraj (trainer)
4.35pm: Maiden (T); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Travis County, Adrie de Vries, Ismail Mohammed
5.10pm: Handicap (D); Dh175,000; 1,200m
Winner: Scrutineer, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
5.45pm: Maiden (D); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Yulong Warrior, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
6.20pm: Maiden (D); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Ejaaby, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson
6.55pm: Handicap (D); Dh160,000; 1,600m
Winner: Storyboard, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Handicap (D); Dh150,000; 2,200m
Winner: Grand Dauphin, Gerald Mosse, Ahmed Al Shemaili
8.05pm: Handicap (T); Dh190,000; 1,800m
Winner: Good Trip, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
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
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
More on Yemen's civil war
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
