Tottenham overcome early red card to post 3-0 win in revamped Europa League

AMSTERDAM: Scoring goals is arguably the hardest task in football, but for new Aberdeen signing and Palestine international Oday Dabbagh that has been the easy part.

His first professional goal came at his hometown club Hilal Al-Quds three weeks after he turned 17. Nine years later, Dabbagh’s performances have landed him a spot in the Scottish Premiership via Kuwait, Portugal and Belgium.

A difficult six months saw Dabbagh limited to an average of 32 minutes across 15 league appearances for Charleroi this season. When he netted his first goal of the campaign against Standard Liege in November he earned a point for his club and the ire of his own fans after making a shushing gesture towards them.

In the aftermath, Palestine’s all-time leading scorer was limited to just 36 minutes in four appearances and shortly after all parties agreed that a change of scenery would be best.

The loan to Aberdeen, engineered in the last days of the winter transfer window, comes with an option to buy in the region of $1m that can be triggered at the end of the season. The forward’s exploits were well known to the club’s head of recruitment, Nuno de Almeida, who was at Rio Ave and watched the then-unknown Palestinian’s goals lift Arouca from the relegation zone to Europe in just two seasons.

Commenting on his move to the Scottish Premiership, Dabbagh said: “I am very happy to be joining AFC and look forward to meeting my teammates, the coaches and people around the club. I am looking forward to the challenge and I am hopeful I will repay the trust everyone has shown in me with good performances for the team.”

The 26-year-old has faced plenty of adversity since leaving Hilal Al-Quds in 2019. A turbulent first year abroad in Kuwait saw him suffer a broken collarbone, contract COVID-19 and play for three different clubs. The scar tissue from that time laid the foundation for success as his sophomore campaign saw him lead Al-Arabi to their first league title in two decades. His parent club, Al-Qadsia, could only watch as a player they deemed surplus to requirements mere months earlier won the competition’s Golden Boot.

Dabbagh’s resilience was further tested in Arouca when visa issues caused his debut to be delayed by several weeks. It made little difference, with the player finding the net on his third appearance for the club after just 34 minutes on the pitch. A haul of four goals and an assist in his first season netted four points for the club, which escaped the relegation playoffs by a meager two points.

In his second year at Arouca, a contractual dispute hampered an otherwise fine season that concluded with 11 goals in 21 appearances across all competitions. Dabbagh signed a pre-contract with Charleroi in February 2023 and was promptly frozen out of Arouca’s squad.

Dabbagh’s response was once again emphatic. He enjoyed his best spell with Charleroi early in the 2023/24 season, with five goal involvements over the first 10 match days.

Aberdeen FC supporters will hope lightning can strike twice. Dabbagh leaves Charleroi feeling hard done by the club’s decisions over the last year; he had not envisioned a substitute’s role after finishing the previous season as the club’s top scorer.

On paper, the move to Aberdeen is a match made in heaven. The player needs minutes and the club needs goals, scoring just one in their last eight Scottish Premiership matches. The Dons have been in a malaise stretching back to last November, wasting a near-perfect start to their season — they collected 31/33 points in their first 11 matches.

“Oday is a clinical finisher who has an exceptional work ethic and his combative qualities will be a real asset for us,” Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin told the club’s official website.

“He has a strong personality both on and off the pitch and we believe he will be a positive addition, adding another dimension to our attacking options as we work to get back to winning ways.”

In spite of his struggles at Charleroi, Dabbagh has achieved a lot in the past 14 months. Dabbagh joined elite company in 2023, becoming only the 10th Asian player to score more than 100 goals for club and country before turning 25. The list of luminaries features Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia), Abdul Kadir (Indonesia), Majed Abdullah (Saudi Arabia), Cha Bum-Kun (South Korea), Fandi Ahmad (Singapore), Bader Al-Mutawa, Bashar Abdullah (both Kuwait), Ali Mabkhout (UAE) and Omar Al-Somah (Syria).

Dabbagh could debut for Aberdeen at Dundee United on Saturday, when a good start will send expectations soaring.

Six goals for Palestine in 2024 helped propel the team to new heights at the Asian Cup and 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification. If Dabbagh can get the game time he craves at Aberdeen in 2025, it could result in a return to form and trouble for Palestine’s Group B rivals.

DOHA: Three-time defending Qatar Open champion Iga Swiatek scraped her way past Czech youngster Linda Noskova on Wednesday to set up a quarterfinal with last year’s runner-up Elena Rybakina.

Swiatek dropped a set in Doha for the first time since 2022 — ending a run of 25 won in a row — but recovered to advance 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 6-4 and extend her winning streak at the tournament to 14 matches.

The five-time Grand Slam champion will take on 2022 Wimbledon winner Rybakina on Thursday for a place in the semifinals. Swiatek beat Rybakina in straight sets in the final 12 months ago.

“I would say Linda played amazing, and for sure she didn’t make it easy for me,” said Swiatek who admitted she faces a tough assignment against Rybakina.

“She likes playing here, she’s been in a final here last year, and last year also was tough. So I’ll be ready for some intense rallies, and some low balls, and good serving.”

The Pole’s reign in Qatar looked in jeopardy when the 20-year-old Noskova, a semifinalist in Abu Dhabi last week, dominated a first set tiebreak after being unable to capitalize on five break points.

Swiatek, without a title since the French Open in June, broke to go 3-2 up in the second set. Noskova immediately hit back but the second seed responded in kind to regain her advantage.

Noskova had a break point as her opponent served for the set but Swiatek kept her cool to force a decider.

Swiatek won the first two games of the final set before Noskova reeled off the next three for a 3-2 edge, and the Pole was wobbling in the eighth game.

However from 0-30 down on her serve, she rattled off six straight points to hold and then land the crucial break with a forehand into the open court.

Swiatek closed out the victory in the following game despite winning fewer points than Noskova overall.

Rybakina progressed earlier in the day with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 win over Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova.

The fifth seed from Kazakhstan battled inconsistency in the first set after racing into a 3-0 lead, failing to convert three set points in the 10th game before finally taking charge in the tie-break.

Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina broke world No. 46 Sramkova to start the second set and won the first four games as she wrapped up the victory with minimal fuss.

“Tough opponent as always,” said Rybakina of facing Swiatek for the eighth time.

“Going to focus on myself, and try to stay aggressive on the court. It’s definitely the toughest opponent so far on this tournament, so hopefully I can do well.”

Rybakina’s coach Stefano Vukov remains banned following the conclusion of an investigation, the WTA confirmed on Tuesday.

He was provisionally suspended last month for allegedly breaching the tour’s code of conduct.

Jasmine Paolini became the latest seed to fall on Wednesday as the fourth-ranked Italian was blown away 6-2, 6-2 by the mercurial Jelena Ostapenko.

Ostapenko, who had not won back-to-back matches since Wimbledon until this week, will play Ons Jabeur for a place in the semifinals.

Jabeur, the world No. 35, defeated Sofia Kenin of the US 6-3, 6-4 to make her third Doha quarterfinal.

Four of the top 10 seeds fell on Tuesday as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Zheng Qinwen and Paula Badosa all exited in the second round.

Sixth seed Jessica Pegula avoided the same fate as she defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-3,7-5.

Ekaterina Alexandrova followed up her victory over Sabalenka by brushing aside Elize Mertens in two sets, while Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk beat Poland’s Magda Linette 6-4, 6-2.