Stormy Weather: Union Bay Takes a Beating

Al-Ittihad punished its visitors, Al-Khaliz, with a first-half goal from Khaled Nari in a thrilling match at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah and responded strongly with four goals in the second half.

Al-Ittihad started strongly in the second half and Steven Bergwijn gave Al-Ittihad the lead in the 49th minute with Haussem Hour scoring in the 68th minute.

Hamed Al-Ghamdi came on as a substitute for N’Golo Kante in the 84th minute. In the 95th minute, Al-Ghamdi scored the fourth goal for Al-Ittihad with a powerful shot after a pass from his colleague Benzema.

This is Al-Ghamdi’s second match since joining Al-Ittihad on loan from Al-Ittifaq in January 2024. Al-Ghamdi did not feature in any matches under former coach Marcelo Gallardo, but was given one by current coach Laurent Blanc. The opportunity to participate in two matches, the first against Al-Wahda and the second against Al-Khalij, in which he scored his first goal with the team.

With this win, Al-Ittihad temporarily increased its score to 12 points at the top of the league, pending the result of the match between Al-Hilal and Al-Kolaud. The balance of the Gulf is frozen at 4 points.