"Al Ghannam then prodded a shot towards goal that was repelled by Predrag Rajkovic before the Al-Ittihad goalkeeper used his feet to deny him again three minutes later. And Al-Ettifaq took the lead nine minutes after the restart through the lively Al Ghannam, whose stunning curler picked out the top corner following a swift counter-attack. Karim Benzema led Al-Ittihad's response as he sent a header narrowly wide before sending a strike over the crossbar, but the hosts' hopes of a comeback were dented late on."
"But Saad Al-Shehri's side were made to work for their win, having registered an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.52 from their six shots to Al-Ittihad's 1.04 from 15 attempts. And while Al Ghannam, who ended the match with team-high totals for shots (four) and touches in the opposition box (five), will receive plaudits for his display, Moussa Dembele also played his part. He won more duels (10), had more successful dribbles (four) and won more aerial duels (four) th"
Al-Ettifaq beat defending champions Al-Ittihad 1-0 thanks to Khalid Al Ghannam's second-half curler following a swift counter-attack. Predrag Rajkovic was sent off late for handling the ball outside the box after rushing out to challenge Mohau Nkoto, ending Al-Ittihad's six-game unbeaten league run. Mahamadou Doumbia forced a low save from Marek Rodak, and Karim Benzema missed a header and a long-range effort as Al-Ittihad pushed for a response. Al-Ettifaq registered an xG of 0.52 from six shots versus Al-Ittihad's 1.04 from 15, with Moussa Dembele contributing widely in duels and dribbles.
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