Two goals from Abderrazak Hamdallah gave Al-Ittihad a 2-1 win at AGMK of Uzbekistan on Monday, ensuring their passage to the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League.

Defeat in this continental competition ended up costing Nuno Santo his job as head coach a month ago, not long after the Portuguese boss had delivered the Tigers’ first Saudi league title in 14 years.

The same tournament has now given Marcelo Gallardo his first win as coach of the Jeddah giants after the Argentine tactician was appointed earlier this month.

It was not a classic performance by the visitors on what was a chilly evening in Uzbekistan but that was not a problem for their Moroccan marksman, who also scored in Friday’s 1-1 draw with Al-Ettifaq.

Two goals in the space of four first-half minutes were enough for the two-time continental titleholders to move onto 12 points from five games in Group C.

On the half hour, there seemed to be little danger when Fabinho had the ball around the center circle, but the former Liverpool midfielder then sent a long ball over the top of the Central Asian defense into the path of Hamdallah. He muscled Dilshod Akhmadaliev off the ball on the edge of the area and then fired home a fierce left-footed rocket that flew through the legs of the goalkeeper to give Al-Ittihad a valuable lead.

Four minutes later and the lead was doubled. Muhannad Al-Shantaqi had the ball on the right side of the area and his pass across the box was blocked, but there was Hamdallah to fire home his second. It was another poacher’s goal from the man who has won the golden boot in the 2020 AFC Champions League and twice in the SPL.

Soon after, Benzema drew a good save from Valijhon Rakhimov with a low shot from the right side of the area, but it was far from one-way traffic.

On the stroke of halftime, Khurshid Giyosov curled a ball just wide of Al-Ittihad’s left-hand post to remind the visitors there was still work to do in the second half.

Benzema did his utmost to extend the lead but his attempts either went wide or were blocked. Hamdallah also was not far away from his hat trick.

AGMK, making just their third appearance on this continental stage this season, tried hard to get back into the game but struggled to create any clear-cut chances. Then, with 12 minutes remaining, the deficit was halved.

On the left side of the area, Sanzhar Tursunov’s low drive across the goalkeeper ended up at the feet of Martin Boakye and the Italian striker could not miss from close range.

The goal meant nerves and tension for the fans that had made the journey to Central Asia and for those watching back in Jeddah.

AGMK, who had lost all four group games previously, where roared forward by their fans but they were unable to get back on level terms. In the end, Al-Ittihad took the points and a place in the knockout stage.

RIYADH: Al-Hilal sent a message to the rest of Saudi Arabia with the biggest-ever win in the Roshn Saudi League, a 9-0 thrashing of Al-Hazm that restored their four-point lead over Al-Nassr in second. They meet next Friday, and mouths are already starting to water.

It all means that Al-Hilal are still unbeaten in the league after 14 games and have won 12 and drawn just two. It was a devastating demonstration of firepower at the home of the bottom club with goals spread throughout six players with Malcom managing a hat-trick.

It was no surprise that the first fell to Aleksandar Mitrovic after 14 minutes, and it was a real striker’s goal. Mohammed Al-Breik swung in an inviting cross from deep, and it cleared the defense and looked to be heading into the arms of goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen, but Mitrovic stretched out a leg to volley home from close range. It was the start of what was going to be a very long afternoon for the hosts.

Mohamed Kanno added a second just after the half-hour. There seemed to be little danger when the midfielder picked up possession 30 meters from goal but he let fly with a shot that flew into the top corner to extend Al-Hilal’s lead. Mohammed Al-Qahtani made it three two minutes before the break, reacting quickly to fire home the rebound after Mitrovic’s low shot had been palmed away by the Tunisian goalkeeper who was having an increasingly busy evening.

It meant that the teams headed in at the break with few fans watching in any doubt as to where the points were heading — they were going back to Riyadh, but nobody could have predicted that there were still many more goals to come.

Malcom scored twice in three minutes early after the restart. Mitrovic was involved again, slipping the ball through the backline for the Brazilian winger to enter the area, skip past the ‘keeper with his first touch and then slide home. 

Then Michael got to the byline on the left and pulled the ball back for Malcom to score from close range and it was all getting very painful indeed for Al-Hazm. Almost immediately, however, they scored, but Mohamed Al-Thani’s precious strike was ruled out for offside and there was to be no respite. 

The visiting fans had to wait until the 79th minute for No. 6 and it came from Saleh Al-Shehri who returned to club action after scoring four goals in two World Cup qualifiers for Saudi Arabia, who defeated Pakistan and Jordan.

His goal was a simple tap-in after Michael had again reached the right byline this time and rolled the ball across the goal for the in-form Al-Shehri. Two minutes later, Al-Breik made a rare appearance on the scoresheet. The full-back entered the area and his low shot, if it was a shot and not an attempt at a low ball across the area, hit Dahmen and rolled in.

Malcom got his hat-trick with five minutes remaining, pouncing on a loose ball near the penalty spot and firing home a low drive. Then came No. 9 from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic inside injury time.

History was made but more importantly, Al-Hilal are once again clear at the top. It is looking increasingly like only Al-Nassr can stop them. The Riyadh Derby next week is going to be something special.