LONDON: Group A of the Arabian Gulf Cup came to its conclusion on Friday, with hosts Kuwait and Oman both securing the points they needed to progress to the semifinals.

Kuwait thought they had beaten their Gulf rivals with a goal from Mohammad Daham in the 74th minute of the match at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City.

But a 101st-minute equalizer from Mohammed Muntari deep into stoppage time rescued some pride for the Qataris, who crashed out of the tournament by failing to win.

In the day’s other match, Oman faced the UAE in another crucial encounter.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw, which secured Oman’s advancement to the next stage and brought the UAE’s campaign to an end.

Al-Ahli Dubai midfielder Yahya Al-Ghassani had given the Emiratis a half-time lead, but they were pegged back by an Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri equalizer 11 minutes from the end.

The group stages of the Arabian Gulf Cup conclude on Saturday with the final matches in Group B.

Saudi Arabia need a victory against Iraq to guarantee a semifinal spot, while already-qualified Bahrain will look to make it three wins from three when they play Yemen.

LONDON: Eddie Howe hopes his current Newcastle team have “moved on” from the one which finished fourth in the Premier League two seasons ago.
The Magpies continued an impressive run of results on Thursday by beating 10-man Aston Villa 3-0 at St. James’ Park — their fourth straight win in all competitions.
Newcastle climbed to fifth in the table and within six points of second-placed Chelsea.
Newcastle reached the Champions League for the first time in 20 years when they qualified for last season’s competition.
“I’d hope we’ve moved on from that team,” Howe said.
“You can never go back in time and replicate what that team was. That team was an outstanding side...
“But you can never go back. It’s all about the future. We’ve signed some new players, the dynamic is slightly different and for me, the evolution of the team always had to be that we wanted to be better with the ball, we wanted to control the game more with the ball.”
Newcastle went ahead in just the second minute through Anthony Gordon’s strike before Villa striker Jhon Duran was controversially sent off.
Further goals from Alexander Isak — his 10th in as many league games — and Joelinton secured all three points.
Newcastle slipped to 12th place after a 4-2 defeat at Brentford on December 7, but have since rallied.
“We’re shooting for whatever we can shoot for,” Howe said when asked about Newcastle’s top-four hopes.
“We’ll take small steps, we’ll go game-by-game, but I’m really heartened by how the team is playing.”