Hamdallah faces friendly foe Al Raed in pursuit of all-time RSL record | OneFootball

It’s a pretty hefty understatement to say that Abderrazak Hamdallah knows how to score goals.

The Moroccan international entered this, his seventh season in the Roshn Saudi League, as the league’s second all-time leading scorer with 130 goals, 14 behind the outright leader, Syria’s Omar Al Somah.

Before Cristiano Ronaldo made history last season, Hamdallah also held the single-season record for the most goals in a campaign, with 34 in 27 games in the 2018-19 RSL. Back then, like Ronaldo now, he was plying his trade at Al Nassr.

Four, largely prolific, seasons followed with Al Ittihad until this summer, when an Al Shabab seeking to improve upon an eighth-placed finish last term – it represented their lowest final placing since the 2017-18 campaign - made snaring the mighty Moroccan a priority.

If the Riyadh club wanted to challenge near the top of the table again, they most probably figured they would need more than the 45 goals they managed last season. So, the signing of Hamdallah, who has scored double digits in every campaign in the RSL, at an average of almost 26 per term, is about as close to guaranteeing goals as you can get.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Hamdallah will most likely have targeted with his new employers not only a fourth RSL golden boot - he claimed the honour in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2022-23 - but also capture Al Somah’s crown as the high-scoring player in RSL history.

As he chases down the Syrian’s record, it has taken only two games this season for Hamdallah to score his first in black and white - an important penalty on Saturday as Al Shabab made it three wins in a row with a 1-0 defeat of Al Taawoun. One goal down in their main marksman's pursuit for all-time-RSL-leader status, 15 more to go.

Having been sidelined for the opening two rounds of the 2024-25 RSL, Hamdallah returned in Matchweek 3 to contribute to the notable 1-0 victory against a previously undefeated Al Qadsiah - something of an early statement from the capital club against a side featuring Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ezequiel Fernandez and Nacho.

The triumph last time out at home to Al Taawoun, who finished a surprising fourth last season, saw the former champions rise to third in the nascent table, their highest position since the backend of the 2022-23 season.

And, this weekend, Victor Pereira’s side host Al Raed at Al Shabab Club Stadium looking to make it four wins on the bounce for the first time since the start of 2023. Worryingly for Odair Hellman’s men as they travel to Riyadh, Hamdallah loves playing against the side from Buraidah.

In fact, they are the club against which he has scored the most goals (14) since moving to the Kingdom in 2018.

In his debut season with Al Nassr, Hamdallah terrorised Al Raed, first with an incredible four goals in a 4-0 rout in December 2018, before following that up a few months later with another hat-trick in an ever-more-comprehensive 5-0 victory.

The following campaign, in 2019-20, Hamdallah added another three goals to that individual record, thanks to a brace in a 4-1 win and a single goal in their 2-0 win, continuing his sequence of scoring in each game he had played against Al Raed. That run might have halted in the 2020-21 season, but the frontman still managed a double in the clubs’ second meeting as Al Nassr came from behind to prevail 3-1.

Changing clubs midway through the 2021-22 RSL, swapping Al Nassr for Al Ittihad, did little to dampen Hamdallah’s love affair with facing Al Raed. Ironically, his debut match for the Jeddah giants came against Al Raed and, yes, he struck again, opening the scoring in the 21st minute in a 2-1 triumph.

There was some respite, at least, for Al Raed in Al Ittihad’s 2022-23 title-winning season as, despite claiming the golden boot with 21 goals, Hamdallah failed to find the net against his favourite foes in either of their encounters: a 1-0 win for Al Ittihad and a 0-0 draw. It marked the first campaign in which he had failed to score against the club in red and black.

However, the temporary “drought” was just that; last season, Hamdallah opened the scoring in the first game of the season as Al Ittihad cruised to a 3-0 win. Now onto his third Saudi club in Al Shabab, a determined Hamdallah will be showing no mercy as he looks to continue his remarkable form against Al Raed, with the motivation clear. Threefold, even.

Impress his new employers, fire Al Shabab to loftier heights than last season, and turbo-charge his quest to become the RSL’s all-time leading scorer. Al Raed, then, has better beware.