Al-Hulood dismantle Jeddah in King's Cup
Al-Hulood went to Jeddah and came away five-nil in the King's Cup Round of 32 on Tuesday. Kortajarena opened the scoring in the third minute and doubled it by sixteen, then added a third before the break. Da Costa made it four early in the second half and Guga sealed it straight after half-time.
And here's the thing — by then Jeddah had already lost their shape. Kortajarena's hat-trick came inside twenty-seven minutes, three goals that should have put the tie beyond doubt. Guga's strike in the forty-sixth minute was just confirmation of what had already been decided.
The turning point came when Fallatah was sent off in the seventy-third minute. Jeddah had played well enough to stay in the game until then, but a red card changes everything. They dug in for the remainder, but five men against five was always going to be a stretch.
The statistics tell their own story. Jeddah managed thirty-seven percent possession and created nothing from big chances — zero. They had two shots on target from twenty-nine attempts, while Al-Hulood hit six of eleven shots on target. Expected goals of 0.3 versus 1.34 says everything about who dominated.
Jeddah's recent form doesn't look much better after this. They beat Al-Taï 2-1 in May, but four defeats and two draws in their last six games. Al-Hulood have been inconsistent too — draws against Al-Ittihad and Kaizer Chiefs, but they ground out the win here when it mattered.