Al Riyadh 3-1 Al Ittihad Player Ratings: Sylla's Strike Completes Al Riyadh's Comeback As They See Off Al Ittihad In A Dramatic Fashion

The Saudi Pro League resumed after a brief halt due to ongoing tensions in the Middle East, with Al Ittihad visiting Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, where Al Riyadh welcomed them for a matchday 26 fixture.

The visitors are trying to get on with life without the likes of N'Golo Kante and one of the best Real Madrid players of all time, Karim Benzema, who recently moved to rivals Al Hilal. Despite missing two of their most important players, Al Ittihad started strongly, maintaining possession without panicking much.

The deadlock was broken just four minutes into the game, as Youssef En-Nesyri headed in a goal from a delicious delivery from Roger Fernandes to put the visitors ahead. The hosts had their chances in the first half, but were largely unable to make the most out of them.

The second half saw Al Riyadh play with some more urgency, which was repaid immediately in the 48th minute as Leandro Antunes fired in from close range to level things up. Although the visitors saw more of the ball, they failed to create meaningful chances and were toothless in the final third.

In a surprising turn of events, Al Riyadh took the lead in the 80th minute through Toze, sending the home fans wild. Substitute Mamadou Sylla added a third to finish things off in style in the 94th minute, even after seeing his penalty saved by Rajkovic.

The hosts were ecstatic, but kept their composure and squeezed out an important win, which could prove decisive in the relegation battle of the Saudi Pro League.

Al Ittihad are now well and truly behind the top three teams of the league and might find it difficult to finish in the top four this season, after such a disastrous performance against a relegation dweller.

Here are the Al Riyadh vs Al Ittihad Player Ratings.

Key Takeaways

• Al Ittihad had 69% possession, but it was Al Riyadh who had a better xG of 2.89 and created double the amount of chances than the visitors.
• Mohammed Alkhaibari won the most duels in this game (7).
• Mario Mitaj recorded the most key passes in this match (3).

Al Riyadh Player Ratings vs Al Ittihad

Here are the Al Riyadh Player Ratings from the Al Riyadh vs Al Ittihad Player Ratings.

Al Ittihad Player Ratings vs Al Ittihad

Here are the Al Ittihad Player Ratings from the Al Riyadh vs Al Ittihad Player Ratings.

Man of the Match

Leandro Antunes was the man of the match in this SPL game.

Worst Performer

Predrag Rajkovic was the worst performer from the Al Riyadh vs Al Ittihad fixture.