Al-Dir'iya beat Al-Ettifaq 3-0 on Friday evening at the Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium. The visitors took all three points in the Pro-League's Regular Season round four. It was a straightforward victory that left the hosts in ninth place with six points from four games.
Darwin Nunez opened the scoring early, finding the net in the eighth minute. Al-Ettifaq's Khalid Al Asiri picked up a yellow card in the twenty-sixth before Al-Dir'iya pushed further ahead. Adil Boulbina doubled the lead in the fifty-third minute, and Nunez sealed the win with his second in the eighty-first.
Al-Ettifaq made several changes during the match, bringing on Turky Wadi in the fifty-eighth minute. By then the result was no longer in doubt, and the hosts turned to fresh legs in search of something to show for their possession. Al Asiri came off in the fifty-ninth, replaced by Al Alaeli in the seventy-third.
The statistics told a different story from the scoreline. Al-Ettifaq held 54 per cent of the ball and registered 58 attacks, yet their expected goals of 1.27 contrasted sharply with Al-Dir'iya's 2.28. The hosts created only two big chances while the visitors made four, and Al-Dir'iya's seven shots on target produced three goals.
Al-Dir'iya moved up to fifth place with seven points, one ahead of the hosts after the same number of matches. The victory extended their unbeaten run to three games, though they had already dropped points against Al-Hulood. Al-Ettifaq's four-game sequence of two wins and two losses continued unchanged.