RIYADH: Sergio Conceicao’s tenure at Al-Ittihad may have found its true starting point.
The defending champions edged the season’s surprise package Al-Taawoun 1-0 in a tense clash at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on Saturday to move up to fifth place on 23 points.
Before the Saudi Pro League took a break for more than a month, Conceicao had just one league victory to his name.
To say that start was rocky is an understatement, with defeats to Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli combined with draws against Al-Fayha and Al-Khaleej leaving his opening weeks far from convincing. But since then, momentum has steadily built.
Wins over Al-Shabab (2-0), Neom (3-1) and now Al-Taawoun show a clear upturn in form. The Tigers dominated large spells of the contest and, but for a stellar performance in goal by Mailson, could have won by a wider margin.
Breaking down Pericles Chamusca’s Al-Taawoun side was anything but straightforward. In the opening 15 minutes Al-Ittihad were repeatedly caught offside in their attempts to break through, before they began finding space in the box.
Moussa Diaby found himself through on goal in the 18th minute, only for Mailson to deny him, reacting swiftly again to block Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti’s rebound effort. A minute later, Karim Benzema met the same fate as his header was also kept out by the Brazilian goalkeeper.
That pattern continued throughout the first half.
Al-Ittihad overloaded the box in various ways to pull the Al-Taawoun defenders out of position, but the final touch remained elusive. Benzema tried to unlock the defence with a clever through ball to Al-Shanqeeti, only for the pass to run beyond the full-back’s reach.
The breakthrough finally arrived early in the second half. Fabinho and Benzema combined just outside the final third before Diaby was released behind the defence, laying the ball off for the marauding Al-Shanqeeti to open the scoring in the 50th minute.
Al-Ittihad pushed for a second goal to put the game beyond doubt, but Mailson, alongside defenders Andrei Girotto and Moustapha Sembene, stood firm to keep Al-Taawoun in the contest.
The hosts faced a late scare when Abdelfattah Adam headed in what appeared to be a late equaliser, only for a VAR check to identify a foul in the build-up, sending the home fans into rapture as Al-Ittihad saw out the win.
Elsewhere in the Saudi Pro League, Al-Fateh claimed their third successive victory with a 2-0 win over nine-man Al-Shabab in front of a passionate home crowd. Meanwhile, Ben Harburg’s Al-Kholood returned to winning ways with a 5-0 drubbing of Al-Fayha in Al Majma’ah.
On Sunday, Al-Hazem look to extend their good form against Neom at 6:05 p.m., while Al-Qadsiah host Al-Riyadh and Al-Hilal travel to Damac, with both fixtures kicking off at 8:30 p.m.
