Christian Bassogog's stunning late leveller denied Al-Ittihad the chance to move eight points clear at the Saudi Pro League summit after they were held 1-1 by Al-Okhdood. (More Football News)
🌠After Al-Hilal were beaten 3-2 by Al-Ahli on Friday with Ivan Toney scoring a hat-trick, Laurent Blanc's side were unable to take full advantage, but still lead the table by six points.
﷽After Fawaz Al Soqoor's wild effort early on, Al-Ittihad were forced to survive a wave of pressure from their opponents, with Petros and Yaseen Al Zubaidi going close.
🐈But a moment of real quality put the league leaders ahead, with Houssem Aouar collecting Hassan Kadish's pass before weaving his way forward and finishing past Paulo Vitor.
♕Al-Okhdood continued to pressure their opponents, and almost levelled before the break when Naif Asiri rattled the woodwork, with his effort leaving Predrag Rajkovic stranded.
✅Karim Benzema was then denied by a superb goal-line clearance six minutes after the restart, before his sensational run ended with a shot that was saved by Vitor late on.
ඣAnd that miss proved costly. In the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, Al-Ittihad failed to clear a corner which fell to Bassogog, who rifled the ball into the top corner.
🐟Al-Qadsiah also left it late to move above Al-Nassr and into third in the table after Abdulaziz Al Othman's stoppage-time winner earned them a 1-0 win over Al-Riyadh.
🔯They have now won their last four matches against Riyadh teams in the Pro League, their longest run against those teams in the competition, but were made to work for their victory.
ဣFollowing a first half lacking clear-cut chances, Julian Quinones came closest to opening the scoring just before the hour, but his strike was repelled by the woodwork.
𝕴But a pivotal moment in the contest came in the 62nd minute when Mohamed Konate was shown a second yellow card for a poorly timed challenge in midfield.
𓃲And having pushed for a winner, Al-Qadsiah got their reward in the first minute of second-half stoppage time when Al Othman finished past an inspired Milan Borjan.
ꦫAl-Riyadh almost snatched a share of the spoils late on, though, but substitute Faiz Selemani was denied by the post, with Michel's side able to hold on for the three points.
