DAMMAM: Al-Qadsiah defeated Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the Saudi Pro League Matchday 17’s headline fixture, as Julián Quiñones netted twice to cancel out Karim Benzema’s opener.
The battle of the tacticians was on full display between Al-Qadsiah and Al-Ittihad. Brendan Rodgers set his side up in a 4-3-2-1 defensively, with Christopher Bonsu Baah, Musab Al-Juwayr and Quiñones given the freedom to drift between the lines.
In possession, the shape transformed. While Baah operated a left-sided central midfielder in the trio, he frequently stretched the pitch down the left as Al-Juwayr, Quiñones and Nahitan Nández threatened Al-Ittihad between the lines.
Meanwhile, Sérgio Conceição set up his side quite differently. Reeling from a home defeat to Al-Ettifaq in their previous outing, Al-Ittihad emerged in a 3-4-2-1, with Moussa Diaby and the returning Houssem Aouar operating behind Benzema.
Aouar — absent since representing Algeria at AFCON — was inches away from netting on his return to the starting XI. In the 17th minute, he snuck in behind the defence to meet a floated cross from Danilo Pereira, only for his header to strike the post.
Nine minutes later, Al-Ittihad took the lead. After a VAR review, the referee deemed Gaston Alvarez’s challenge on Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti to be a penalty, and Benzema powered his effort down the middle to open the scoring.
Al-Qadsiah did not back down. Baah and Al-Juwayr combined down the left before the formers’s low cross found Quiñones in the six-yard box, allowing him to equalise.
Al-Ittihad continued to struggle down that flank, and in the 59th minute, Mohammed Abou Al-Shamat dribbled past their midfield before threading a through ball to Quiñones who turned and fired Al-Qadsiah into the lead.
VAR was called into action once in the 64th minute for a potential Al-Ittihad penalty. Aouar’s cross struck Jehad Thekri’s knee before bouncing up towards his hand, but the referee waved play on.
It wasn’t Al-Ittihad’s best day, as they failed to find an equaliser despite their late pressure and slipped to sixth place on 27 points, nine behind Al-Qadsiah, who leap into fourth.
In Riyadh, Al-Hilal cruised to victory to extend their lead at the top of the table in a 4-1 victory over Al-Fayha. The visitors took the lead after a mistake from Al-Hilal goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Rubaie was pounced on by Fashion Sakala in the 14th minute.
The hosts responded emphatically before the break. Sergej Milinković-Savić scored a spectacular bicycle kick reminiscent of Ayoub El-Kaabi in the 37th minute, before Orlando Mosquera bundled the ball into his own net on the stroke of half-time.
Rúben Neves’ range of passing was once again a deciding factor for Al-Hilal. In the 61st minute, he delivered a floating cross towards Mohammed Kanno, who rose highest to head in the third. Neves was involved again for the fourth, as his free-kick found Marcos Leonardo to seal a commanding victory.
Elsewhere, Al-Taawoun slipped out of the top four after being held to a 2-2 draw by Al-Hazem in Qassim. Roger Martínez climbed to the top two in the goalscoring charts, with his brace rescuing a point for Al-Taawoun and taking his tally to 14 goals.
The Saudi Pro League returns for Matchday 18 on Saturday, with Al-Khaleej vs. Al-Shabab kicking off at 4:25pm, followed by Al-Kholood vs. Al-Ettifaq at 6:20pm before NEOM host Al-Ahli at 8:30pm.
