The new Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini hailed the display of goalkeeper Shay Given after watching his team beat Stoke 2-0 in his first game in charge at the City of Manchester Stadium yesterday.
The Blues scored goals by Martin Petrov and Carlos Tevez, but they were indebted to their Irish goalkeeper, who made several excellent saves.
"Shay, for me, is the best keeper in England, top five in the world," said Mancini. "Today, he did a good, good job."
And the Italian also praised Brazilian forward Robinho, who played in a front three with Petrov and Tevez before he was substituted for Craig Bellamy.
"Robinho played well but after 70 minutes he was tired and I needed another player for a different situation. Robinho did a good job for me," he said.
The win was just City's third in the league since late September, and the first time they have won consecutive matches since earlier in the same month.
Mancini said: "For me, today is a good match. The players were fantastic because Stoke are a hard team. It was important to win my first game and to keep a clean sheet. The balance was important."
And he also paid tribute to Tevez, who scored an acrobatic second goal. "All the players did fantastic. Carlos was good, technical and a good striker," he said.
The Italian had made five changes from the team who beat Sunderland last weekend. Of the dropping of Welshman Bellamy, he said: "Bellamy is my friend. I have spoken with him because we have got two games in three days and there is no problem [in leaving him out of the side]. All the players are very happy. I need all the players 100 per cent fit.
"All the players and myself can improve and we can only do that by working hard in the next week."
Premier League leaders Chelsea were held to a goalless draw at Wigan, meaning Manchester United can reduce the gap at the top to two points if they win at Hull today.
"We are disappointed with the result but not for the performance of the team," said Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti.
"We improved after the last time against West Ham [a 1-1 draw].
"It is not a good result for us but, as for what we did on the pitch, I think we played well.
"We played well, Birmingham tried to play the counter-attack. It was a difficult game for us but I think that Chelsea did the best in this moment."
Elsewhere, Wigan drew 1-1 with Blackburn, causing manager Roberto Martinez to comment: "It must be the tightest table you are going to see for many years."
Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce said: "We are sat here hugely disappointed and very down in the mouth.
"We know we should have had three points to get us that bit further up the league. We've come out here and matched them in every department."
And there was another 1-1 draw between two North West teams as Burnley and Bolton finished level.
Tottenham got a hard fought goalless draw at Fulham, with keeper Heurelho Gomes making four stunning stops to make sure his team did not leave Craven Cottage empty handed.
"In terms of clear-cut goal chances I'd say we deserved to win that," said Fulham manager Hodgson.
At the bottom of the table, West ham enjoyed an invaluable 2-0 win over Portsmouth at Upton Park that took them out of the relegation zone.
@Email:akunawicz@thenational.ae
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)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE%20Warriors%2045%20Results
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm
Scotland v Ireland:
Scotland (15-1): Stuart Hogg; Tommy Seymour, Huw Jones, Sam Johnson, Sean Maitland; Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw (capt); Josh Strauss, James Ritchie, Ryan Wilson; Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist; Simon Berghan, Stuart McInally, Allan Dell
Replacements: Fraser Brown, Jamie Bhatti, D'arcy Rae, Ben Toolis, Rob Harley, Ali Price, Pete Horne, Blair Kinghorn
Coach: Gregor Townsend (SCO)
Ireland (15-1): Rob Kearney; Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Jack Conan, Sean O'Brien, Peter O'Mahony; James Ryan, Quinn Roux; Tadhg Furlong, Rory Best (capt), Cian Healy
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Ultan Dillane, Josh van der Flier, John Cooney, Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour
Coach: Joe Schmidt (NZL)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh132,000 (Countryman)
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
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
WHEN TO GO:
September to November or March to May; this is when visitors are most likely to see what they’ve come for.
WHERE TO STAY:
Meghauli Serai, A Taj Safari - Chitwan National Park resort (tajhotels.com) is a one-hour drive from Bharatpur Airport with stays costing from Dh1,396 per night, including taxes and breakfast. Return airport transfers cost from Dh661.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Etihad Airways regularly flies from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu from around Dh1,500 per person return, including taxes. Buddha Air (buddhaair.com) and Yeti Airlines (yetiairlines.com) fly from Kathmandu to Bharatpur several times a day from about Dh660 return and the flight takes just 20 minutes. Driving is possible but the roads are hilly which means it will take you five or six hours to travel 148 kilometres.