By Mohammed Al-Kinani
JEDDAH – Thiago Neves scored a hat trick while Christian Wilhelmsson netted a double as Al-Hilal routed Al-Ittihad 5-0 in Saudi Zain Professional League at Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium Thursday.
Both the sides launched attacks against each other from the start. But the absence of skipper Mohammed Noor along with the Tunisian striker Amine Chermiti from the lineup was too much for the Ittihad team to bear.
Ittihad was the first team to make an attempt on the rival’s goal in the fifth minute through Sultan Al-Numari, but Hilal keeper Mohammed Al-Deayea kept him at bay.
Two minutes later, Abdullah Al-Zouri sent a pass through Al-Ittihad defenders to Wilhelmsson, who direct it into the Ittihad goal without giving keeper Mabrouk Za’id time to block it.
Talal Al-Mish’al of Ittihad counter-attacked a minute later, but Deayea did well to push it over the bar. Ittihad was again unlucky to score a goal when Hicham Abu Cherouane’s shot in the 28th minute hit the right post of Deayea.
Hilal on the other hand kept on increasing its tally. Brazilian Neves doubled Hilal’s lead in the 37th minute by tapping on to a perfect cross from the dynamic Swedish midfielder Wilhelmsson. Ittihad keeper Zaid was certainly not himself as he would have saved it on any other night.
The second half saw Ittihad’s coach Gabriel Calderon make an adventurous change when he replaced defender Obaid Al-Shamrani with striker Luciano Leguizamon. Calderon paid the price in the 55th minute when Neves shot from outside the box to increase the lead.
Neves completed his hat trick three minutes later when Yasser Al-Qahtani dribbled past Ittihad players and sent a nice pass to Neves, who controlled the ball before putting it behind Za’id.
Saud Kariri of Ittihad hit a powerful kick from outside the area in the 76th minute but only found the bar. Hilal, however, was still able to find its fifth goal in the 83rd minute through Wilhelmsson.
Hilal coach Eric Gerets then replaced Wilhelmsson and Neves with Eisa Al-Muhiyyani and Omar Al-Ghamdi.
Al-Hilal is on top of the standings at the end of round 11 with 29 points. It is followed by Al-Shabab on 26 points with Al-Ittihad taking the third spot on 18 points, but with two matches in hand. Al-Wehdah is fourth (13 points), while Al-Fateh is fifth (also on 13 points – with a 4-goal difference), followed by Al-Ahli (12).
In another match, Al-Ahli shared two goals with Al-Fateh at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium.
Rabea’a Al-Sufiyani put Al-Fateh in the lead eight minutes after the break. Mohammed Al-Sifri scored for Ahli in the 78th minute.
The match saw a rare situation when the referee, Yahiya Hazzazi, fell unconscious eight minutes before time. Although he gained consciousness soon after, he was replaced with the fourth official, Abdurrahman Al-Amri.
Elsewhere, Al-Ittifaq defeated its host Najran 3-1 at Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium.
Anas Bin Yaseen scored from the spot for the guest team in the 12th minute before Abdurrahman Al-Qahtani equalized also from the spot in the 35th minute.
Yousuf Al-Salem increased the margin a minute after the break. In the 54th minute Yahiya Al-Shihri sealed the win for Al-Ittifaq.
With one match in hand, Al-Ittifaq is ninth with nine points, while Najran is tenth with seven points.
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