Casteels on Eastern Derby win: "It was important for whole region."

Although still relatively new to the Roshn Saudi League, Koen Casteels understood the significance of the success.

“Overall, for the whole region, it was a very important game,” the Al Qadsiah goalkeeper tells the RSL following his side’s 2-0 victory against Al Ettifaq in the Eastern Derby on Saturday night. “Also, for us as a club, for our owners, for our fans, everyone in the region.

“So, it’s always nice to win a derby like this. A very solid performance from us; controlled the whole game, I think. Was a great feeling to get this win.”

Given the match marked the RSL’s first Eastern Derby in more than three years, there felt a little something extra on the game at Al Ettifaq Club Stadium, the last of three cross-town confrontations in Matchweek 9 that brought down the curtain on the competition’s inaugural Derby Week.

That much was evident when the away support, tucked behind the Al Ettifaq goal in the first half, unfurled their giant tifo and sparked their flares as the game kicked off. For their part, the home faithful bounced and chanted and waved their huge Al Ettifaq flags.

But it wasn’t to be for Steven Gerrard’s team. Al Qadsiah took the spoils, and with them the east-coast bragging rights, thanks to first-half goals from defender Gaston Alvarez and striker Julian Quinones. Al Ettifaq did, though, go incredibly close on a few occasions, testing Casteels a couple of times and at one point trembling his post.

So, an Uruguayan and a Mexican settled the Eastern Derby. The Belgian international goalkeeper more than played his part, too, and was promptly voted Man of the Match. He now has five clean sheets from nine matches - a 2024-25 RSL high.

One of a number of statement signings in the summer as Al Qadsiah sought to signal their intent upon their long-awaited return to the Saudi Arabian top flight, Casteels has already begun to repay the club’s faith. Clearly, he’s pleased with his decision to swap German Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg for the upwardly mobile Al Khobar side.

“It’s been really good, actually,” Casteels said of his first impressions of the Saudi Arabian top flight. “It’s way better than I expected. The expectations, you don’t know really what to expect, so I’m really enjoying it.

“We have a good team, a nice team with good colleagues, good teammates, a club with ambition. And, yeah, my family and I are really happy here.”

The same could be said for Al Qadsiah on the whole. Saturday’s victory made it three wins on the bounce across all competitions, with two of those in the RSL to lift Michel’s men back into fifth in the table. They are now within two points off the top four. Understandably, they go into next Thursday’s match with Al Fayha - the final round before the league pauses for the FIFA international break - in positive mood and shape.

Casteels, though, knows there is no time to let up.

“Now we have one more game, which is as important as winning here,” he says. “Because if you lose that game then this victory doesn’t mean a lot. We need to step on the gas and get this one more win before the international break and then three more to go before the winter break.

“It’s a good winning streak, but we need to keep on doing like this. And we will see where we can end up.”

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