LONDON: Al-Ittihad have moved to build on their King's Cup success by strengthening their defence and attack with two key international signings.
Aleksandar Pesic, a Serbian international striker, and Australia World Cup defender Matthew Jurman have joined the Jeddah outfit who will be looking to rebuild under new coach Ramon Diaz.
The former Al-Hilal coach replaced Chilean Jose Luis Sierra in May and he has identified Pesic, 26, and Jurman, 28, as two key players in his revolution. Al-Ittihad have won the Saudi Pro League nine times but not since 2009 and they could only finish ninth last season.
Al-Ittihad will be pinning their hopes on Pesic and Jarman leading their rise up the table. Pesic signs from Red Star Belgrade on a three-year deal and comes with a good pedigree having played for Toulouse and Atalanta. He has one international cap, which he won in 2016 in a friendly against Ukraine, and should team up in attack with Ahmed Akaïchi, the Tunisian international, who led the way with ten goals last season.
Jurman went to the World Cup in Russia with the Socceroos and sat on the bench for the games against France, Denmark and Peru. He joins from Suwon Samsung Bluewings on a two-year contract.
Jurman said he left the South Korean club with a heavy heart.
"From the day I became a @suwonsamsungfc player, I loved every minute of it," he wrote on Instagram. "Being my first move overseas for my career it had its ups and downs, but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment and loved learning the Korean culture and way of living! I always gave my best when I played for Suwon to always try to help the team win. I’ll miss the city, the fans, my teammates and all the coaching staff and office staff. I’ll never forget the friends and experiences I made there! From now, I’ll be a Suwon fan & will be following the team from afar and one day we will meet again! Now, I’m looking forward to my next step in my career @ittihadclub.sa."
Saudi Arabia giants Al-Ittihad make two international signings
Saudi Arabia giants Al-Ittihad make two international signings
Late Guirassy winner for Dortmund trims Bayern’s lead atop Bundesliga
- A fifth consecutive league victory moved Niko Kovac’s side to 48 points
- The Guinean supplied a fine left-footed finish in the 87th minute to ensure it was a winning return
WOLFSBURG, Germany: A late Serous Guirassy winner settled a tense contest in Wolfsburg as Borussia Dortmund prevailed 2-1 on Saturday to provisionally cut Bayern Munich’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga to three points.
A fifth consecutive league victory moved Niko Kovac’s side to 48 points, within a victory of erstwhile runaway leaders Bayern, who can restore their six-point cushion with victory at in-form Hoffenheim on Sunday.
After a record-breaking start to the season, the champions are winless in their last two games, giving Dortmund the chance to dream of a first title since 2012 with 13 games to go.
It was not a vintage display by Dortmund, who suffered a blow pre-match with the news that captain Emre Can will be sidelined for another month.
But they ground out victory against a Wolfsburg team who have only won once since the turn of the year thanks to goals by Julian Brandt and Guirassy, each side of a Konstantinos Koulierakis leveller for the hosts.
Max Beier almost put Dortmund ahead in the first half but his effort was deflected by Denis Vavro’s last-ditch block onto the underside of the bar.
But the Wolves failed to heed that warning when a few minutes later Dortmund went ahead.
- Pivotal -
Julian Ryerson’s 38th-minute corner from the left found Brandt at the near post and the Germany international out-leaped substitute Jan Buerger to nod in.
Dortmund’s advantage was erased seven minutes into the second half when Koulierakis chose the perfect moment to score his first goal for Wolfsburg, powering in a header from close range.
With 15th-placed Wolfsburg only a few minutes away from securing a precious point, Dortmund produced a silky winner after Guirassy capped good play by Felix Nmecha and Fabio Silva.
The Guinean supplied a fine left-footed finish in the 87th minute to ensure it was a winning return to his former club for Dortmund coach Kovac.
This also proved a pivotal day in the battle for Bundesliga survival as well as the fight for the coveted top-four places.
St. Pauli, whose last win was before the winter break, hosted fourth-placed Stuttgart, who hadn’t lost in the league since a 5-0 home drubbing by Bayern on December 6.
Daniel Sinani’s clever dummy wrong-footed the Stuttgart defense and the loose ball was lashed in from the edge of the box by Manolis Saliakis for the opener on 35 minutes.
Things got even better for St. Pauli 10 minutes after the break when Sinani slotted home from the penalty spot to make it 2-0 after a VAR review confirmed a handball against Chris Fuehrich.
Stuttgart pulled one back through Jamie Leweling in the last minute but it was too little too late as goal-shy St. Pauli clawed themselves to within touching distance of the teams above them, despite remaining 17th.
St. Pauli’s city rivals Hamburg also picked up a precious three points, winning their first game on the road this season at 2-0 bottom-placed Heidenheim.
Mainz recorded yet another victory, this time a 2-0 win over Augsburg, in their remarkable turnaround under Swiss strategist Urs Fischer, who has guided Mainz from the bottom of the table to 13th in a matter of weeks.
Nadiem Amiri scored both goals from the spot, each side of the interval, to make it four wins in five ahead of a trip to Dortmund next weekend.
Werder Bremen were edged out by a sensational solitary strike by Freiburg’s Jan-Niklas Beste to extend their winless streak to 11 games.
Bremen’s losing run, the longest in the German top flight, resulted in coach Horst Steffen being relieved of his duties last week, with Daniel Thioune replacing him.
