Al Ettifaq bounce back, draws in Dammam and Jeddah

Al Khaleej and Al Shabab share the spoils

Al Khaleej and Al Shabab played out a dour 0-0 draw at the Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium on Saturday evening.

It wasn't long into the game that Al Khaleej’s goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic was called into action with a fine double save. First, Hattan Bahebri had plenty of time to wind up a shot from distance which was pushed away by the Bosnian, however the rebound fell to Carlos Junior and his strike was met with another set of firm palms.

Al Shabab continued to dictate play as the first half developed. Ivan Rakitic curled in a dangerous free-kick, Sehic was quick to come off his line and emphatically clear away the danger. Whilst just after the half hour mark Bahebri played in Junior and Sehic closed the angle and blocked the attempted shot with his feet.

Junior painfully spurned a third chance to break the deadlock on the 40th minute mark. Hamad Al Yami pounced on an errant Al Khaleej header and drifted the ball to the near post. Junior held off his marker and shaped his body perfectly for an overhead kick. The only thing missing was the effort hitting the target.

The second half continued in the same vein as Bahebri latched onto a misplaced pass from defender Jung Woo-young. Sehic again was equal to the snapshot.

On a rare foray forward, Al Khaleej perhaps had the best chance of the contest. Saeed Mubarak arched in a perfect cross from Fabio Martins who timed his run to perfection. The powerful header from the former Al Shabab player brought about a great reaching save from goalkeeper Mohammed Al Absi.

In truth, neither side seemed to be able to knit it all together in the final third of the field and both teams had to settle for a share of the points.


Gray and Dembele save the day as Ettifaq triumph over Damac


First half goals from Demarai Gray and Moussa Dembele handed Al Ettifaq a 2-0 away win over the ten men of Damac.

Steven Gerrard’s team made a dream start as they opened the scoring on the 15th minute mark. Karl Toko Ekambi curled in a dangerous ball to the back post, Damac defender Noor Al Rashidi looked all set to win possession, but an unfortunate touch at the worst possible moment allowed Gray to slide in for his fourth goal of the RSL campaign.

It went from bad to worse for the home side in the 22nd minute. Goalkeeper Moustapha Zeghba sprinted out for his area and handled the ball outside the box. After a quick VAR check, the Algerian goalkeeper was shown a straight red card.

With the contest heading into the first half break, Al Ettifaq slowly ratcheted up the pressure. Toko Ekambi saw his header brush the side netting from a teasing Gray cross.
The Jamaican winger would play a central role in his side doubling their advantage in the sixth minute of injury time.

 

Coming from the right wing, the former Everton winger had defender Dhari Al Enezi well beaten before the Damac defender flew in with a rash challenge leaving the referee little choice but to award a penalty. Dembele stepped up, stuttered his run and calmly slotted the ball into the right hand corner. That was the first goal in the RSL since the 5th of October 2023 for the French striker.

Al Ettifaq looked comfortable and could have easily had a third in the second half. Alvaro Medran provided a pinpoint pass to Toko Ekambi. The Cameroon international was unable to set himself in time and substitute goalkeeper Abdulbasit Abdullah stood up to the shot.

Medran was the creative hub for the team in his deep lying playmaker role and teed up Dembele with a dinked 10 yard pass. The contact made from the former Lyon man was lacking and his attempted scissor kick was taken by Abdullah.

The victory for Al Ettifaq means that the Dammam based side are now level on 31 points and only separated by goal difference with Damac who are still in sixth place in the RSL standings.


Al Ahli and Al Fateh split the difference after a frantic contest

Al Ahli and Al Fateh played out an action packed 1-1 draw on Friday in a contest where both teams had a player sent off.

44,137 fans packed into the King Abdullah Sports City, the fifth highest attendance of the RSL season on Saturday evening and were met with a frenetic start to the contest. With the match just a few minutes old, Riyad Mahrez came up with a crunching challenge to win the ball, an act which brought about a ferocious roar from the sea of green shirts in the stands. The ball was quickly spread out to Allan Saint-Maximin who chopped inside and his effort flew just wide.

Al Ahli defender Roger Ibanez proceeded to get sent off in his second RSL appearance in a row after picking up two yellow cards in just four minutes. The first of which saw the Brazilian pull down Al Fatah attacker Cristian Tello outside the box, before a rash challenge moments later on Jason Denayer ensured that the former Roma man had an early night.

Despite being reduced to ten men, Al Ahli continued to press forward. Roberto Firmino had a shot bound for the bottom corner, only to be denied by the outstretched boot of goalkeeper Jacob Rinne. The subsequent follow up from Saudi Arabian defender Ali Majrashi skimmed past the far post. Slick interplay between Mahrez and Firmino handed the ball to Franck Kessie, but the first time shot from the Côte d'Ivoire international went well wide.

Al Fateh also had their chances to break the deadlock. First defender Denayer came up with a towering header that went just over the crossbar. Al Ahli goalkeeper Edouard Mendy produced a stunning save to turn a strike from Lucas Zelarayan around the post.

In the eighth minute of stoppage time Tello came up with a thunderous strike to put Al Fateh ahead. With the ball finding the former FC Barcelona man on the edge of the box, he feigned the challenge of Mahrez before unleashing a right-footed strike that clipped Al Ahli defender Abdulbasit Hindi and flew into the back of the net.

 

VAR was called into action on the hour mark to check on a dangerous challenge from Kessie, however after reviewing the footage the referee stuck with his original decision of a yellow card. It would prove to be a pivotal decision as Keisse had a hand in Al Ahli’s equaliser.

A quick free-kick from the Ivorian was knocked to Saint-Maximin who beat his marker as he pushed into the penalty box. A sweet strike from the right boot of the former Newcastle man got the better of Rinne and smacked off the crossbar before going over the line.

The visitors thought they retook the lead on the 78th minute as a free-kick from Zelarayan curled into the bottom corner. Unfortunately, attacker Ali Al Masoud had strayed offside. Whilst the luck for Al Fateh changed again as they saw Saeed Baattia pick up a second yellow card for a late tackle on substitute Haitham Asiri on the 89th minute.

However with both teams reduced to ten men they were unable to muster enough to find a winner, and the full throttle contest at the King Abdullah Sports City ended in a 1-1 draw.