Soccer
Karim Benzema scored twice in Al-Ittihad’s 3-0 win over Al-Fayha on Sunday to help his team move nine points clear at the Saudi Pro League summit.
Al-Ittihad will now turn their focus to Al-Hilal’s clash against Al-Orobah on Monday, with their gap to the second-placed team a healthy one with three games of their season left.
Benzema handed Al-Ittihad the lead in the 24th minute, combining well with Unai Hernandez before his left-footed strike squeezed in at Orlando Mosquera’s near post.
The 37-year-old doubled his tally nine minutes after the break, exchanging passes with Abdulrahman Al Obud before sending the ball into the bottom-left corner.
That proved to be Benzema’s final action in the game as he was replaced in the 57th minute after picking up an injury, though it did not look serious enough to rule him out of the title run-in.
And even without their talisman on the pitch, Al-Ittihad extended their lead with 15 minutes remaining through Mohammed Al Baqawi’s bizarre own-goal.
Earlier in the day, Al-Ahli missed the chance to close the gap to the top two in the division after being beaten 3-1 by Al-Shabab.
Mohammed Al Thani opened the scoring for Al-Shabab in the 26th minute before Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah doubled his side’s advantage six minutes later.
But Al-Ahli reduced the deficit nine minutes before the break when Gabri Veiga collected Ivan Toney’s pass before finishing past Heorhii Bushchan and into the bottom corner.
Hamed-Allah notched his brace in the 65th minute to restore Al-Shabab’s two-goal cushion, only to get sent off 12 minutes later for two shows of dissent towards the referee.
But Al-Shabab were able to hold on for the final knockings, keeping them sixth in the standings and just six points behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.
Al-Ahil meanwhile, dropped to fourth after Al-Qadsiah beat Al-Taawoun 1-0 on Sunday, with Andrei Girotto’s 61st-minute own-goal the difference.
Data Debrief: Benzema leads the way for Al-Ittihad
In a game that lacked quality between Al-Ittihad and Al-Fayha, a match that had a total expected goals (xG) of just 1.33, Benzema proved to be the difference once again.
He took his haul of league goals to 21 in 28 appearances this season, while also ending the match with team-high totals for shots on target (two) and touches in the opposition box (nine).
Indeed, Al-Ittihad also surpassed their highest number of league wins in the competition, with their latest victory their 23rd this season, overtaking the 22 that they managed in 2022-23.
And though he was sent off for Al-Shabab, Hamed-Allah also made history, becoming only the second player to score 150 goals in the competition.
Abderrazak Hamedallah is only the second player to reach the 150 goal milestone in the #RoshnSaudiLeague pic.twitter.com/un9hoSXB29
— Roshn Saudi League (@SPL_EN) May 11, 2025
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