Photo: Saudi Professional League
Hussein Sayed got the better of Abdallah El Said and Mohamed Abdel Shafy as Al Ettifaq ran riot against Al Ahli with a 6-2 win in which Sayed scored.
Al Ettifaq XI: M’Bohli, Al Khalaf, Alyami, Arias, Sayed, Kiss, Hazazi, Al Kuwaykibi, Aleman, Ben Youssef, Guanca.
Al Ahli XI: Al Owais, Al Mowalad, Alexis, Diaz, Abdel Shafy, Souza, Al Moasher, Jurado, Al Mogahwi, Al Soma, El Said.
Al Ettifaq got off to a dream start eight minutes into the game when a cross from the left wing found the head of Al Yami as he flicked the header on into the bottom corner.
Just before half time, the lead was extended when Cristian Guanca showed a superb burst of pace to beat the defenders and beat the keeper at his near post with a powerful finish. Defensive midfielder Souza was the surprise source of Al Ahli’s first goal with a looping header from a corner.
Early in the second half, Hussein Sayed found himself in an uncharacteristic position in the box but showed the composure of a natural striker as the ball reached him and he sent it onto his weaker right foot before placing his shot past the keeper to make it 3-1.
GOOOOOAAAAALL!!! Hussein El-Sayed scores against Abdel-Shafy and Abdallah El-Said’s Al Ahli. El-Sayed’s team are currently 5-1 up!! pic.twitter.com/NZ7OXvqY4i
— KingFut.com (@King_Fut) October 20, 2018
At that point, the floodgates truly opened and Aleman was the next to capitalise when he beat an Al Ahli defender with a superb nutmeg before a delicately placed finish.
Al Kuwaybiki added his name to the scoresheet when he was found on the right channel and beat Al Owais with a powerful shot to the far post.
Things went from bad to worse for Al Ahli when Al Habib added a sixth from a goalmouth scramble from a corner. Djaniny added a consolation goal late on but it was too little too late as Al Ettifaq won 6-2.
The result is Al Ahli’s first loss of the season as they fall off the pace that Al Nassr have set at the summit. Alternatively, Al Ettifaq are now in 5th place and only two points off of Al Ahli with a game in hand.
Al Ettifaq’s next game is against Al Hazm on Thursday at 4:40PM Egyptian time, while Al Ahli host Al Fateh the following day at 7PM.