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The Tigers managed to get a win away from home
Al-Ittihad Club went one leg ahead in the next leg of the AFC Elite Champions League after securing a valuable win over their hosts Al-Etifaq in the Saudi Roshan League.
Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Etifaq 3-1 in their joint match in the thirtieth round of the Roshan League at the Ego Stadium in Dammam today, Thursday.
Houssim Awar opened the scoring for the Tigers in the third minute, before Moussa Diaby scored twice in the 19th and 79th minutes and Khaled Al-Ghanem scored Al-Etifaq’s only goal in the 26th minute.
to Asia’s elite
The win lifted Al-Ittihad’s tally to 55 points, placing them fifth in the Saudi Arabian league table, which qualifies for the preliminary round of the elite AFC Champions League next season.
Al-Ittihad now sit three points clear of Al-Taawun, who have dropped to sixth place, with two matches left for each team, boosting the Tigers’ chances of qualifying for Asia.
On the other hand, the balance of “Al-Etifaq” stood at 49 points from 33 matches, officially losing the opportunity to qualify for the next round of the Asian Championship.
Al-Ittihad are without a striker
“Al-Ittihad” coach Portuguese Sergio Conceicao started the match without a striker, and Moroccan Youssef En-Nesiri was excluded for technical reasons.
Conceição was limited to relying only on the wings. France’s Moussa Diaby and Dutchman Steven Bergwein are in the forward line, along with Algerian playmaker Houssem Ouar.
On the other hand, the Portuguese coach relied on Muhannad Al-Shankeeti and Albania’s Mario Mita as wing-backs, supporting them with Portugal’s Danilo Pereira, Serbian Carlo Simic and Hasan Kadesh in the heart of defence.
The formation of the union was as follows.
Goalkeeper: Predrag Rajkovic
Defensive line: Karlo Simic – Danilo Pereira – Hasan Kadesh
Midfield: Muhannad Al-Shankeiti – Fabinho – Awad Al-Nashiri – Mario Mitai
Forward line: Steven Bergwin – Houssem Ouar – Moussa Diaby
Early goal
Although Al-Ittihad started the match without a clear striker, they quickly grabbed the lead through their Algerian playmaker Houssem Ouar.
In the third minute of the match, Ouar received a pass from Mario Mita in the penalty area and turned it into the net of “Al-Etifaq” with one touch.
Find a purpose
In the 19th minute of the match, Moussa Diaby scored the second goal for Al-Ittihad, after he sent a ground ball from the edge of the penalty area, which tricked goalkeeper Marek Rodak into his net.
The purpose of the sheep
However, Al-Etifaq responded quickly, particularly in the 26th minute when Khaled Al-Ghannam reduced the deficit with a goal from Rajkovic’s cross.
Bergwein is injured
Al-Etifaq’s only goal came a minute after Dutchman Steven Bergwein left the field due to an injury in favor of Abdul Rahman Al-Aboud.
Diaby double
Despite this injury, Diaby and Ouar continued their brilliance in the second half and led Al-Ittihad to score the third goal.
The goal came in the 79th minute, after Hussem Ouar played a through ball to Diab, who managed to evade Al-Etifaq defender Jack Hendrie and slot the ball into the net.
