Riyadh – Al-Hilal came closer and closer to the Saudi Football Championship title, after it won the capital derby against Ali Al-Shabab 4-3, maintaining a comfortable distance (12 points) from its closest competitor, its other neighbor Al-Nasr, which, led by Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, did not hesitate to inflict a harsh defeat on Al-Tai. With five goals, including a hat-trick for “Al-Don”, raising his score to 26 goals at the top of the scorers’ rankings, after 25 stages passed in the most spending Arab leagues in history.
Al-Hilal’s victory in the “Lion’s Den” in the city of Prince Faisal bin Fahd was not easy to achieve, as “Al-Hilal made it more difficult in some situations,” according to its Portuguese coach, Jorge Jesus, who also believed that “the match could have been easier.”
However, Al-Hilal suffered a painful blow with the injury of its top scorer, Serbian Alexander Mitrovic (22 goals), who will face the risk of missing the Super Cup match against Al-Nasr, on April 8, according to what Al-Riyadiah newspaper revealed, citing medical sources. Jesus said, “The initial diagnosis indicates that it is muscular. We will conduct a medical examination on the site of his injury to confirm it accurately.” The former Portuguese coach of Benfica added that “the pressure of matches causes a ‘semi-risk’ by involving players in some matches, as happened with Mitrovic, but the physical risk is always present and the most important thing is that it be thoughtful.”
But his compatriot, youth coach Vitor Pereira, criticized the performance of Guatemalan referee Mario Escobar, questioning the validity of the second goal for the blue team, “(Serbian Sergej Milinkovic -) Savic used his hand to take the ball, before passing it to Mitrovic, and the referee did not return to the video referee, and there was also a strike.” A penalty that was not awarded to Al-Shabab was committed against (Croatian) Rakitic (45).”
Ronaldo’s exciting hat-trick at Al Awal Park resulted in Al-Alamy’s sweep of its guest Al-Ta’i by five, which maintained its hopes of competing with Al-Hilal for the title, even though “the matter has become difficult, but we must continue and strive,” according to what the five-time best player in the world said, He refused to throw away the handkerchief! But his coach and compatriot Luis Castro admitted that the title journey had become far away, especially since “Al-Hilal did not lose points,” pointing out that Al-Nasr’s goal was to win the Super Cup and the King’s Cup. “We prepared a program for that to prepare our players for the semi-finals and final in the Super Cup, and we know that we have two days between each match.” .
“The Don” seemed happy with the “hat-trick” and the important victory. “We achieved an important victory. I scored 3 goals for the first time in a long time, so I am very happy.” He added, “The matches that follow the international break are always difficult, especially in light of travel between countries.”
Win and stumble
On the eve of their expected summit on Monday, Al-Ittihad approached its traditional rival, Al-Ahly, reducing the difference to two points, after defeating Al-Fayhaa (3-1) versus Al-Raqi’s late stumble against Al-Ittifaq (2-2). After missing the last 5 matches due to injury, the jinx continued to haunt Frenchman Karim Benzema, by missing his fourth penalty kick since joining Al-Ameed last summer, and the second in a row, after the one he missed against Al-Wahda when he left injured.
Argentine Federation coach Marcelo Gallardo did not hesitate to respond, commenting on his French star’s continuous miss of penalty kicks, saying, “There is an agreement between Benzema and (Moroccan Abdel Razzaq) Hamdallah to shoot. They are the most prominent, and I am giving them the opportunity on the field to choose between them.”
But Gallardo must overcome at the Jeddah summit the issue of the absence of his young international players after the Saudi Federation refused to allow them to participate. He said, “We were hoping for them to participate against Al-Ahly, because they are influential in light of the injuries.”
While Al-Ittihad goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Mayouf said that the derby matches have a ranking, but in the end it is a 3-point match, his colleague Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, who scored the second goal (45 + 1), confirmed that “Al-Ittihad is capable of continuing strong performances despite the departure of the stars of the Olympic team to participate in the scheduled Asian Cup.” In Qatar between April 15 and May 3 in Qatar, which qualifies for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Renewed competition
Al-Ahly’s fall into the trap of a draw with Al-Ettifaq revived the competition with Al-Ittihad for third place. But the Al-Jeddawi team, which was a guest in Dammam, almost came out as a loser before Abdullah Al-Ammar saved them, in a match whose course surprised Al-Ahly’s German coach Matthias Jaisse, according to what he said, especially in the timing of the goals scored for Al-Ettifaq, “They scored at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half.” “.
But he pointed out that his team conceded two goals due to a loss of concentration. “This is football, yet we played a good match.” The English coach of Al-Ettifaq, Steven Gerrard, whose team is 10 points away from the fourth-place team, seemed sad after the match “because of wasting opportunities and not achieving a win,” but he was not upset with his team, which “returned to the match and showed great character despite Al-Ahly’s advantage and lead at the beginning of the match.” .
Al-Taawoun (43 points), led by its Brazilian coach Pericles Chamusca, maintained its hopes of reaching the top four after sweeping the “shabby” Al-Hazm at the bottom (15 points) with a clean 4-0, provided that “we maintain our focus in the upcoming matches, so that we can continue to achieve success.” Positive results, after this very important victory,” said Shamuska.
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