Red-hot Al Ittihad hit Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq for four | OneFootball

Al Ittihad tightened their grip on the Roshn Saudi League summit with an emphatic 4-0 triumph against Al Ettifaq on Saturday to maintain their two-point lead at the top of the table.

In the absence of winger Moussa Diaby, the side from Jeddah had no problem in brushing aside Steven Gerrard’s men at their own ground in Dammam. Al Ittihad came into the Matchweek 12 fixture in pursuit of revenge having been on the receiving end of a 5-0 thrashing back in May.

Karim Benzema thought he had drawn first blood after 27 minutes, picking up N’Golo Kante’s pass and finishing with aplomb from close range. No sooner had the Frenchmen started to celebrate than the flag went up, ruling out the goal for offside.

Soon after, the two players swapped roles, with Kante intercepting the ball inside Al Ettifaq’s half then charging into the box to get on the end of Benzema’s return pass and slot home for the opener.

Benzema did get his goal eight minutes after the restart, when Houssem Aouar showed a combination of skill and tenacity to make his way into the box, feeding Steven Bergwijn whose initial shot was pushed by goalkeeper Marek Rodak into the path of the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner. The Al Ittihad captain was left with the simple task of tapping home his side’s second.

The same trio were again in action in the 66th minute, combining to produce Al Ittihad’s third. This time, Benzema began the move with a cross-field pass to find Bergwijn down the right. The former Tottenham Hotspur winger sent the ball back across the mouth of goal for Aouar, who swept it home for his seventh RSL goal of his debut season.

The rout was completed in style four minutes later when Benzema produced an improvised pass to free Bergwijn up in acres to space. The Dutchman, an astute summer signing, advanced on goal and comfortably placed his outside-of-the-boot finish past Rodak to round off the scoring.

Next up for Al Ittihad is the challenge of Al Nassr, with a win set to send them into the mid-season break at the top regardless of other results.