After another Ligue 1 thrashing, Paris Saint-Germain’s Laurent Blanc ‘pretty satisfied with practically everything’

Paris Saint-Germain cruised to a 5-0 thrashing of Nantes on Sunday to maintain their five-point lead over Monaco at the top of Ligue 1.

Earlier in the day, the Principality club had kept the pressure on the champions with a routine 2-0 win at mid-table Toulouse.

Brazil centre-back Thaigo Silva opened the scoring for PSG after just 10 minutes at the Parc des Princes as he knocked home the loose ball from six yards after Nantes goalkeeper Remy Riou failed to hold onto Edinson Cavani’s header.

PSG had all but put the game to bed by half-time as Zlatan Ibrahimovic doubled their advantage from the penalty spot.

However, it wasn’t without controversy as Chaker Alhadhur was deemed to have brought down Marco Verratti, despite television replays suggesting the Italian midfielder had merely slipped.

But just six minutes after the restart it was all over as Blaise Matuidi’s back post header found Thiago Motta unmarked to scored from eight yards out.

Nantes were their own worst enemies at times and Papy Mison Djilobodji was penalised for trying to dribble past Verratti, the Italian tackling the defender and sending Ibrahimovic away to cross for Cavani to notch number four.

Ibrahimovic added the fifth after Javier Pastore’s shot was blocked following more good work from Matuidi.

“I think we need to improve when we haven’t got the ball,” said PSG coach Laurent Blanc.

“But I am pretty satisfied with pratically everything.”

Goals from Layvin Kurzawa and Lucas Ocampos gave Monaco an eight-point advantage over fourth-placed Saint-Etienne, further cementing Claudio Ranieri’s team’s quest to earn a Champions League berth for next season.

“It’s mission accomplished, even though we struggled a lot during the opening 30 minutes,” said the Italian coach, formerly of Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan.

“It’s an important win but we need to back it up. We hadn’t played well in our last two matches and it’s good for the group’s confidence to rediscover winning ways.

“Now we can say that we’re back on track but I repeat, we need to back it up.”

Ranieri made a change to his starting line-up, bringing in French under-20 world champion Geoffroy Kondogbia to replace struggling Portugal international Moutinho, although the youngster did little to further his long-term prospects of holding down a regular starting position.

Monaco were far from convincing, particularly in the first half, but still turned around at the break a goal to the good through Kurzawa on 36 minutes.

And it was Kondogbia, in a rare moment of quality, who provided the low cross from the left for Kurzawa to score.

Until that point, Toulouse had been by far the better team, although they proved impotent in front of goal.

There was a disappointing performance from Colombian record-signing Radamel Falcao, who missed two glorious chances and has not scored in the league since November 8.

He was replaced by Ocampos with 21 minutes left and it was the Argentine who sealed the win with a goal two minutes from the end.

And it was a strike of rare beauty that looked out of place in an otherwise drag affair as Ocampos scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick that flummoxed goalkeeper Ali Ahamada.

Meanwhile, Lyon won for the fourth time in a row in all competitions to move up to eighth, just one place below Reims, whom they beat 2-0.

Goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Gueida Fofana secured the points as Lyon extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 10 games since a 4-0 league reverse at PSG.

On Friday night, Saint-Etienne closed to within three points of a Champions League place by beating third-placed Lille 2-0.

Super Saturday race card

4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
4.35pm: Al Bastakiya Listed | $300,000 | (D) | 1,900m
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 | $350,000 | (Turf) | 1,200m
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 | $350,000 | (D) | 1,600m
6.20pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 | $300,000 | (T) | 2,410m
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 | $600,000 | (D) | 2,000m
7.30pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 | $400,000 | (T) | 1,800m

Three ways to boost your credit score

Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:

1. Make sure you make your payments on time;

2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;

3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.

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.”

Defending champions

World Series: South Africa
Women’s World Series: Australia
Gulf Men’s League: Dubai Exiles
Gulf Men’s Social: Mediclinic Barrelhouse Warriors
Gulf Vets: Jebel Ali Dragons Veterans
Gulf Women: Dubai Sports City Eagles
Gulf Under 19: British School Al Khubairat
Gulf Under 19 Girls: Dubai Exiles
UAE National Schools: Al Safa School
International Invitational: Speranza 22
International Vets: Joining Jack

Game Changer

Director: Shankar

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed

Rating: 1/5

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Director: Paul Weitz
Stars: Kevin Hart
3/5 stars

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