Al-Ettifaq 4:2 Al Riyadh: Pro League Match Result

Match report

Ettafaq beat Al-Riyad 4-2 in the opening week of the Pro League regular season at Al-Ettifaq Club Stadium on Thursday evening. The hosts took control from the start, though a red card for Rodrigo Abascal in the sixth minute complicated matters for the visitors. M. Dembele finished with a hat-trick to secure the three points.

Al-Riyad lost their captain early and never recovered their shape. Dembele opened the scoring in the twenty-second minute before doubling Ettafaq's advantage just before half-time with a penalty. The away side pulled one back through B. Mensah in the fifty-sixth minute, but R. Messi's late strike gave them hope before Dembele completed his treble from the spot in the ninety-minute mark.

Ettafaq dominated possession at 66 per cent and created seven big chances compared to Al-Riyad's single opportunity. The visitors managed only four shots on target throughout the match, while the hosts registered twelve. Expected goals told the same story — 2.81 for the home side against 0.73 for the visitors.

Victor Lekhal picked up a booking for Al-Riyad in the forty-second minute, and Ondrej Duda followed suit for Ettafaq shortly after. The away side made more tackles with seventeen, but their attempts to disrupt Ettafaq's rhythm rarely succeeded. Al-Riyad's goalkeeper made eight saves, keeping them in the game longer than the statistics suggested.

Ettafaq sit eighth in the table after five games with three wins and two defeats. Al-Riyad occupy twelfth place following six matches, their record of one win, two draws and three losses leaving them well off the pace. The result ends Al-Riyad's recent run of drawing more often than losing, but this performance was a different proposition entirely.

Prepared from match data

Key numbers

Possession, % 66 – 34

Shots on target 12 – 4

Shots off target 4 – 3

Expected goals 2.81 – 0.73

🟥 6' Rodrigo Abascal — Red card ⇄ 11' L. Antunes — Substitution ⚽ 22' M. Dembele — Goal 🟨 42' Victor Lekhal — Yellow card ⚽ 45' T. Okou — Goal ⚽ 45+5' T. Okou — Goal ⇄ 46' Z. Al Ghamdi — Substitution 🟨 48' Ondrej Duda — Yellow card ⚽ 54' M. Dembele — Penalty 🟨 55' Yasir Shammari — Yellow card ⚽ 56' B. Mensah — Goal ⇄ 64' R. Al Otaibi — Substitution ⇄ 64' M. Gluscevic — Substitution ⇄ 69' V. Lekhal — Substitution ⇄ 79' Y. Al Shammari — Substitution ⚽ 79' R. Messi — Goal ⇄ 81' T. Okou — Substitution ⇄ 88' M. Al Olayan — Substitution ⚽ 90' M. Dembele — Penalty 90+5' Álvaro Medrán — var_penalty ⚽ 90+8' M. Dembele — Penalty

Match events

6' Al Riyadh Red card Rodrigo Abascal
11' Al Riyadh Substitution L. Antunes off: F. Al Sobhi
22' Al-Ettifaq Goal M. Dembele assist: A. Medran
42' Al Riyadh Yellow card Victor Lekhal
45' Al Riyadh Goal T. Okou assist: B. Mensah
45+5' Al Riyadh Goal T. Okou assist: B. Mensah
46' Al-Ettifaq Substitution Z. Al Ghamdi off: K. Al Ghannam
48' Al-Ettifaq Yellow card Ondrej Duda
54' Al-Ettifaq Penalty M. Dembele
55' Al-Ettifaq Yellow card Yasir Shammari
56' Al Riyadh Goal B. Mensah
64' Al-Ettifaq Substitution R. Al Otaibi off: M. Al Alaeli
64' Al-Ettifaq Substitution M. Gluscevic off: R. Messi
69' Al Riyadh Substitution V. Lekhal off: H. Al Shurafa
79' Al-Ettifaq Substitution Y. Al Shammari off: B. Celina
79' Al-Ettifaq Goal R. Messi
81' Al Riyadh Substitution T. Okou off: H. Al Ali
88' Al-Ettifaq Substitution M. Al Olayan off: A. Madu
90' Al-Ettifaq Penalty M. Dembele
90+5' Al-Ettifaq var_penalty Álvaro Medrán
90+8' Al-Ettifaq Penalty M. Dembele

Statistics

66 Possession, % 34

12 Shots on target 4

4 Shots off target 3

2.81 Expected goals 0.73

7 Big chances 1

89 Attacks 66

7 Corners 0

11 Fouls 8

6 Free kicks 10

1 Offsides 1

2 Yellow cards 1

0 Red cards 1

4 Goal kicks 7

23 Throw-ins 16

All statistics

8/1267% Aerial duels 4/1233%

66 Backward passes 50

5 Blocked shots 0

17 Clearances 31

4/2516% Crosses 0/20%

9/1753% Dribbles 5/863%

1.59 Expected assists 0.31

38 Failed passes 63

2 Goalkeeper saves 8

8 Interceptions 11

16 Key passes 5

18/2669% Long passes 19/5733%

174 Passes into the final third 21

362 Passes in the opposition half 95

131 Passes in own half 151

0.57 Shot accuracy 0.57

9 Shots from outside the box 4

11 Shots inside the box 3

4/757% Tackles 8/1747%

468 Total passes 244

Line-ups

Al-Ettifaq

Starting XI
#	Player	number
92	Turki Ba Al-Jawsh	92
4	Jack William Hendry	4
33	Madallah Al-Olayan	33
61	Radhi Al Otaibi	61
70	Abdullah Ahmed Hassan Khateeb	70
71	Matija Gluščević	71
10	Álvaro Medrán Just	10
11	Ondrej Duda	11
29	Abdullah Al Ghamdi	29
58	Yasser Shammari	58
9	Moussa Dembélé	9

Substitutes
#	Player	number
23	Ahmad Al Harbi	23
3	Abdullah Madu	3
13	Meshal Al-Ali	13
87	Meshal Khayrallah Al Sebyani	87
6	Faris Al-Ghamdi	6
43	Bersant Celina	43
80	R. Messi	80
7	Khalid Essa Muhammad Al Ghannam	7

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Al Riyadh

Starting XI
#	Player	number
82	Milan Borjan	82
2	Mohammed Khalifa Mohammed Al Saeed	2
12	Sulaiman Yahya Salman Hazazi	12
26	Rodrigo Abascal Barros	26
67	Mohammed Naif Abdullah Al Hiri Al Khaibari	67
10	Teddy Léo Junior Okou	10
22	Victor Mehdy Lekhal	22
43	Bernard Mensah	43
7	Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan	7
77	Leandro Antunes	77

Substitutes
#	Player	number
97	Emad Fida	97
14	Essam Bahri	14
16	Muhammad Sahluuli	16
96	Sheikh Fall	96
11	Hassan Hashim Al-Ali	11
17	Hussain Al-Raqwani	17

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Recent form

Al-Ettifaq

WLLWDD

Recent matches

All team matches

Al Riyadh

LDWLDW

Recent matches

All team matches

#	Team	P	W	D	L	Points
1	Al-Hilal Saudi	7	6	0	1	18
2	Al-Ittihad FC	7	5	2	0	17
3	Al-Nassr	7	5	1	1	16
4	Al-Qadisiyah	7	5	1	1	16
5	Al Suqoor	7	5	0	2	15
6	Al-Ahli Saudi	7	4	0	3	12
7	Al Kholood	7	3	3	1	12
8	Al Diriyah	7	3	2	2	11
9	Al-Ettifaq	7	3	2	2	11
10	Al-Hazem	7	2	2	3	8

Al-Ettifaq — Al Riyadh: 4:2, Pro League

Match report

Key numbers

Match events

Statistics

Line-ups

Al-Ettifaq

Al Riyadh

Recent form

Al-Ettifaq

Al Riyadh