SAUDI PRO LEAGUE
Benzema’s Al Ittihad 22 points behind leaders Al Hilal as Gallardo struggles in Saudi
The Jeddah Tigers disappointed at the recent Club World Cup and suffered a humbling Roshn Saudi League defeat at the hands of lowly Al Raed.
Alarm bells are ringing at Al Ittihad. The Jeddah based giants were outplayed in the recent quarter final Club World Club clash against Al Ahly and on Saturday suffered a humbling defeat to relegation threatened Al Raed in the Saudi Pro League with the ‘home’ game staged in Mecca.
Despite only being in the position for a matter of weeks, critics are already starting to question Marcelo Gallardo’s project as the Tigers now trail runaway league leaders Al-Hilal by 22 points. Al-Ittihad now face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr on 26 December and anything but a win would see anger levels increase among the club’s loyal, passionate but volatile fanbase.
In Saturday’s league clash, Ittihad faced an early uphill battle after defender Madallah Al Olayan was awarded a straight red card in the 12th minute and went behind in the 22nd minute after Berkaoui opened the scoring for the visitors.
Despite the numerical disadvantage Al Ittihad drew level shortly after with Coronado and Romarinho linking well as the Brazilian delivered a glimmer of hope for the home fans. Benzema had a great chance to put the side from Jeddah ahead soon afterwards but wasted the chance on another day when the French striker failed to sparkle in the yellow and black jersey.
The second half saw Al Raed grow stronger with the extra player advantage and Al Ittihad managed to hold out until the 70th minute when, once again, Berkaoui finished a fine move slotting home after a pull back from Tavares.
Gallardo looked to make the changes that he hoped would pull his side back into the game and controversially subbed star striker Benzema. The changes came to nothing and after VAR rejected a possible Al Ittihad penalty late on, Al Dossary rounded off the win for the side from Buraidah.
With the defeat, Al Ittihad slip to sixth in the Saudi championship and trail leaders Al Hilal by 22 points and also lie 12 points away from a place in next season’s Asian Champions League spots. Marcelo Gallardo has a major job on his hands.