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.