Al-Ettifaq vs Al Khaleej Saihat 1-1

Al-Ettifaq and Al Khaleej Saihat drew 1-1 after a late VAR review wiped out what had looked like a winner for the home side. Joshua King’s penalty had put Al Khaleej ahead, before Bersant Celina levelled, and Jordan Larsson’s effort was then ruled out in the 87th minute.

The first half brought bookings for Abdoulaye Kanté in the 11th minute and Saleh Al Amri in the 14th, but no goals. Al Khaleej made two changes at the break, sending on Joshua King for Mateo Benegas and Marwan Al-Haidari for Anthony Moris, after Sultan Al-Dossari had already come on for Miguel Crespo da Silva in the 30th minute. It stayed 0-0 at half-time.

Al Khaleej went in front in the 68th minute when King, who had come on in the 45th minute, scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-0. Al-Ettifaq then made three changes in quick succession, and one of them paid off immediately as Meshal Al-Aeli, who had come on in the 75th minute, set up Celina to equalise in the 76th minute. Al-Ettifaq thought they had turned it around when Larsson scored in the 87th minute, but VAR cancelled the goal. Late yellow cards for Abdullah Al-Khateeb on 88 minutes and Saud Haroun on 89 minutes followed, before Miguel Crespo da Silva was booked for Al Khaleej in the 89th minute and Majed Omar Kanabah saw yellow in stoppage time.

The numbers backed up a close contest in different ways. Al-Ettifaq had 60% of the ball, 442 passes to Al Khaleej’s 291, 24 shots to 11, 9 on target to 4, and 11 corners to 3. Al Khaleej finished with the higher xG at 1.83 to 1.51, while both sides had 3 offsides. Al-Ettifaq made 3 saves, compared with 8 from Al Khaleej, and the foul count was 11-10.

Al-Ettifaq were booked three times, for Kanté, Al-Khateeb and Haroun. Al Khaleej had four yellow cards, for Saleh Al Amri, Omar Mascarell, Miguel Crespo da Silva and Kanabah. There were no red cards.