Al-Ittihad takes temporary top spot

Moroccan international striker Youssef En-Nesyri led his club, Al-Ittihad, to continue their winning streak and temporarily seize the top spot in the Saudi Pro League, after scoring a brace in their valuable 3-1 away victory over Al-Faisaly yesterday, in the opening match of Matchday 7 at King Salman Stadium. En-Nesyri scored his two goals in the 43rd and 59th minutes, raising his tally to four goals this season, following Dutchman Steven Bergwijn’s opening goal in the 28th minute, which also brought his personal count to four. Al-Faisaly’s sole reply came from Congolese substitute Theo Bongonda in the 87th minute.

The win marked Al-Ittihad’s third consecutive victory and their fifth of the season, with two draws, lifting their points total to 17 and temporarily putting them at the top, one point ahead of Al-Qadsiah, who were held to a 3-3 draw by visitors Al-Ettifaq.

Al-Ittihad pressed from the outset and managed to open the scoring through Bergwijn, who finished off a brilliant pass from Colombian midfielder Richard Rios in the 28th minute. En-Nesyri doubled the visitors’ lead after a cross from Nigerian George Elenikena in the 43rd minute, then added his second personal goal and Al-Ittihad’s third early in the second half, again assisted by Elenikena in the 59th minute. The match also saw the debut of Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, who replaced Elenikena in the 62nd minute. Al-Faisaly pulled a late consolation goal through Bongonda, assisted by Saud Thamer, in the 87th minute.

In the other match, Al-Ettifaq halted Al-Qadsiah’s comeback bid and denied them a fifth consecutive win, forcing a 3-3 draw at Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam. Al-Qadsiah took the lead with two goals from Mexican Julian Quiñones (12th minute) and Italian Matteo Rietiggi (15th minute). Al-Ettifaq responded with two goals of their own, scored by Kosovar Bersant Celina (26th minute) and Spaniard Alvaro Medran (64th minute). Mohammed Al-Qahtani restored Al-Qadsiah’s lead with his third goal of the match in the 82nd minute, but Swedish forward Jordan Larsson equalized three minutes later in the 85th minute. The result lifted Al-Qadsiah to 16 points, temporarily placing them second, while Al-Ettifaq remained on 11 points in seventh place.

Al-Ahli returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Al-Hazem, featuring a brace and a decisive assist from their English international striker Ivan Toney, at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah. Portuguese forward Francisco Trincao gave Al-Ahli the lead in the 21st minute, before Toney added a brace in the 32nd minute (from a penalty) and 45th minute, strengthening his position at the top of the scoring charts with 10 goals. Toney had earlier missed a penalty. Al-Hazem’s only goal came from Ahmed Al-Nakhlai in the 2nd minute. The win lifted Al-Ahli to 12 points, placing them fifth, while Al-Hazem remained on eight points in 10th place.

Matchday 7 concludes today with matches between Neom and Al-Fateh, Diriyah and Abha, and Al-Riyadh and Al-Kholood.