MANCHESTER // There was a cry for help and a cry for goals from Roberto Mancini last night as he told how fervently he hoped Carlos Tevez would return quickly to help prevent Manchester City's campaign from ending in disappointment.
In the absence of the 19-goal Argentine, City have now gone three games without a win, and they lacked an abrasive edge up front in the goalless draw with Liverpool.
Tevez flew to his homeland after worries following the birth of his daughter, Katie. The family situation has improved, but he is not expected to return in time for Wednesday's FA Cup replay at Stoke.
As he awaits news, Mancini desperately hopes Tevez will be available for Saturday's trip to Chelsea. "It's a big problem for us," said the manager. "We have an important week and we don't have Tevez.
"For me, this is no good. We don't have the depth. I hope he can come back because we need him. We tried to win this game, but in the end it was important not to lose. I thought we played very well. We played as a team."
So did Liverpool as six bookings testified to their fighting spirit. They remain a point behind City, but with influential figures like Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun back after injury, Rafa Benitez's side are looking ominously strong in the battle for fourth place.
"I don't think a point was good for anyone," Benitez said. "But we have to look at the positives; we were strong and had two important players coming back.
"It's a race of four teams and you have to think of Tottenham and Aston Villa. We have to do our job. I have more confidence, but it depends on the players."
With much at stake, it was inevitably a cautious affair, although abject would be another description.
Steven Gerrard did his best to add some impetus to Liverpool's play. A 20-yard effort dipped over the bar before he set up Martin Skrtel for the best chance of the first half with a deep corner that the central defender steered wide.
For City, Emmanuel Adebayor was often too isolated and Stephen Ireland's display showed how much his confidence has ebbed since last season.
Player of the Year in the last campaign, his intelligence and impudent touches were a feature of City's attacks.
Those attributes deserted him yesterday. When Adebayor sent a pass into him in space inside the box, the Ireland of old would have turned and gone for goal. This one turned back and the chance was gone.
It took just over an hour for Pepe Reina to make a save. Gareth Barry crossed from the left, Adebayor appeared to control with his arm, but then thumped in a low shot that the Liverpool keeper pushed away at his near post.
With Craig Bellamy on, City finished strongly, with Adebayor going close twice. He harassed Skrtel to push the ball ahead for a sight of goal, but as he prepared to shoot, the defender stretched a leg to divert the ball for a corner.
With 10 minutes to go, an Adam Johnson corner dropped to Vincent Kompany in the box. He chipped back in but Adebayor headed over.
Two late shouts for a penalty at both ends went ignored. Daniel Agger appeared to shove Adebayor while Benayoun was caught by Kompany, but stayed on his feet to send over a cross that was cleared.Benitez admired his player's honesty, but said: "Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. You cannot blame the player. He was trying to score or go forward."
akhan@thenational.ae
The Specs
Price, base Dh379,000
Engine 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 503bhp
Torque 443Nm
On sale now
Packages which the US Secret Service said contained possible explosive devices were sent to:
- Former first lady Hillary Clinton
- Former US president Barack Obama
- Philanthropist and businessman George Soros
- Former CIA director John Brennan at CNN's New York bureau
- Former Attorney General Eric Holder (delivered to former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz)
- California Congresswoman Maxine Waters (two devices)
The biog
Born November 11, 1948
Education: BA, English Language and Literature, Cairo University
Family: Four brothers, seven sisters, two daughters, 42 and 39, two sons, 43 and 35, and 15 grandchildren
Hobbies: Reading and traveling
ABU DHABI CARD
5pm: UAE Martyrs Cup (TB) Conditions; Dh90,000; 2,200m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap; Dh70,000; 1,400m
6pm: UAE Matyrs Trophy (PA) Maiden; Dh80,000; 1,600m
6.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Apprentice Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh100,000; 1,600m
7pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Ladies World Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh125,000; 1,600m
8pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown (PA) Group 1; Dh5,000,000; 1,600m
Sreesanth's India bowling career
Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40
ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55
T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12
Results:
5pm: Maiden (PA) | Dh80,000 | 1,200 metres
Winner: Jabalini, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Younis Kalbani (trainer)
5.30pm: UAE Arabian Derby (PA) | Prestige | Dh150,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Octave, Gerald Avranche, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round 3 (PA) | Group 3 Dh300,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Harrab, Richard Mullen, Mohamed Ali
6.30pm: Emirates Championship (PA) | Group 1 | Dh1million | 2,200m
Winner: BF Mughader, Szczepan Mazur, Younis Al Kalbani
7pm: Abu Dhabi Championship (TB) | Group 3 | Dh380,000 | 2,200m
Winner: GM Hopkins, Patrick Cosgrave, Jaber Ramadhan
7.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) | Conditions | Dh70,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF La’Asae, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Bundesliga fixtures
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
T20 World Cup Qualifier fixtures
Tuesday, October 29
Qualifier one, 2.10pm – Netherlands v UAE
Qualifier two, 7.30pm – Namibia v Oman
Wednesday, October 30
Qualifier three, 2.10pm – Scotland v loser of qualifier one
Qualifier four, 7.30pm – Hong Kong v loser of qualifier two
Thursday, October 31
Fifth-place playoff, 2.10pm – winner of qualifier three v winner of qualifier four
Friday, November 1
Semi-final one, 2.10pm – Ireland v winner of qualifier one
Semi-final two, 7.30pm – PNG v winner of qualifier two
Saturday, November 2
Third-place playoff, 2.10pm
Final, 7.30pm
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
Result
Tottenhan Hotspur 2 Roma 3
Tottenham: Winks 87', Janssen 90 1'
Roma 3
D Perotti 13' (pen), C Under 70', M Tumminello 90 2"
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
England Test squad
Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes.
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
Size: 21 employees
Funding: $7 million
Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
Opening Premier League fixtures, August 14
- Brentford v Arsenal
- Burnley v Brighton
- Chelsea v Crystal Palace
- Everton v Southampton
- Leicester City v Wolves
- Manchester United v Leeds United
- Newcastle United v West Ham United
- Norwich City v Liverpool
- Tottenham v Manchester City
- Watford v Aston Villa
The Saga Continues
Wu-Tang Clan
(36 Chambers / Entertainment One)
The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
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