Late drama at Abha, Al Ettifaq back to winning ways

El Mahdioui rescues a point for Al Taawoun in late, late show at Abha 

Abha manager Pitso Mosimane marked his first Roshn Saudi League match with a 1-1 draw, but will rue the opportunity of not getting the win as opponents Al Taawoun rescued a point in dramatic fashion at the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium. 

Sitting fourth, Al Taawoun are flying high in the RSL standings and started confidently, with Saudi Arabian defender Waleed Al Ahmed coming close to opening the scoring with the game just four minutes old.

Posing a threat from set-pieces, Al Ahmed’s header thumped against the upright from a corner and the resulting scramble saw the ball cleared off the line by Abha defender Fahad Al Jumayah, before being kicked away to safety. 

Al Taawoun began to grow in confidence and had two chances to break the deadlock in the first half. First up, January signing Cristian Guanca had a stinging shot from just outside of the box that had to be palmed away by Abha goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu.

The Romanian was then again called into action moments later to pull off a fine double save to keep Abha in the contest: first a sprawling dive to stop Joao Pedro's header, followed by an immediate block to deny Musa Barrow an easy close-range tap-in. 

With the first half coming to a close, Abha had a perfect chance to score on a counter-attack. Winger Mohammed Al Kunaydiri latched onto a long ball and showed plenty of composure to let defender Fahad Al Abdulrazzaq slide away with a deft touch, but the youngster lacked that killer instinct in the final third and the chance was eventually snuffed out by defender Andrei Girotto. 

Abha showed plenty of concentration in defence and kept Al Taawoun at arm’s length for the majority of the match. Midfielder Flavio Medeiros did have Tatarusanu scrambling just after the hour mark, but his 40-yard effort was just wide of the target. 

Eventually, the goals arrived in second-half stoppage time. Although, the opener came completely against the run of play as Abha substitute Mohammad Naji sent in a perfect cross from the right wing, which was headed home inadvertently by Al Taawoun defender Al Ahmed.

Al Taawoun desperately looked for parity and found it in the 96th minute, thanks to a moment of magic. The Wolves had been a threat at set-pieces throughout the game, and it proved to be the undoing of Abha at the very death.

A deep cross came to Tatarusanu, who missed his chance to clear the ball, which quickly fell to Al Taawoun captain Aschraf El Mahdioui at the edge of the box.

Exhibiting perfect technique, the Dutch midfielder smashed the ball on the half volley, with the ball pinging off the post and into the back of the net to give his side a deserved share of the spoils. 

Gray saves the day as Al Ettifaq register first RSL win since October

Demarai Gray scored and provided a lucky assist as Steven Gerrard's Al Ettifaq picked up their first RSL win in almost four months with a well-earned 2-0 victory against Al Khaleej on Thursday evening. 

Alvaro Medran, signed by Al Ettifaq to add some much-needed creativity, came close to laying an assist for team-mate Gray early on, as his clipped pass from range found the winger bearing down on goal, but the finish was lacking from the Jamaican international. 

Al Ettifaq grew in confidence in the early exchanges and January signing Karl Toko Ekambi whipped in a dangerous ball into the box and, after a mistake from Al Khaleej defender Lisandro Lopez, the ball fall to Georginio Wijnaldum.

However, the tight angle was against the Dutch international, who lashed the ball over the bar when he should have done better. 

Abdulelah Hawsawi crafted the best chance of the half for Al Khaleej with a moment of individual magic. Having scampered down the right wing, then produced a couple of stepovers and a cutback, he sent his shot inches past the Al Ettifaq post. 

The visitors continued to press for an opener as January signings Medran and Toko Ekambi combined to devastating effect, when the former Al Taawoun man produced a pinpoint long pass to find Toko Ekambi, who could only clip the ball over the bar when a more delicate touch was needed. 

Al Ettifaq deservedly opened the scoring with the second half just a few minutes old, although the goal came about somewhat fortuitously.

A dangerous break saw Wijnaldum drive a shot towards goal, which was blocked by defender Mohammed Al Khabrani. Yet the ball promptly fell to Gray, who completely scuffed a half volley off his right boot.

Thankfully for Al Ettifaq, though, Wijnaldum was on hand to poke home from close range to spare the blushes of his team-mate. 

Gray, however, was far from embarrassed with his next involvement in the game. Not for the first time, a lurching long ball from Medran picked out the Jamaican, who powered home his finish with an emphatic left footed volley.

Initially, the goal was flagged offside, but a VAR check rightly showed Gray had timed his run to perfection, giving the winger the opportunity to celebrate all over again once the referee overturned the original decision. 

With the game coming to a close, Al Khaleej thought they had pulled a goal back from a Mohamed Sherif header, but VAR rightly showed that the Egyptian had strayed offside in the build-up.

The night belonged to Al Ettifaq who, after waiting for eight RSL games, and an extensive January overhaul, Gerrard and his team finally have the victory they have been craving.