August 31, (THEWILL) — Al-Ittihad began their Saudi Pro League title defence in commanding style, defeating Al-Okhdood 5-2 in an entertaining season opener. The reigning champions wasted little time establishing control, with Karim Benzema opening the scoring within four minutes before Steven Bergwijn doubled the advantage three minutes later following a deflected free-kick.
The French striker’s clinical finishing proved decisive throughout the contest. After Al-Okhdood pulled one back through Juan Sebastian Pedroza in the 27th minute, an unfortunate own goal from Saeed Al-Rubaie restored the two-goal cushion just two minutes later when he deflected Mohamed Nayef’s effort into his own net.
Benzema continued his goalscoring form after the interval, heading home beautifully six minutes into the second half to effectively end the match as a contest. Although Pedroza managed his second goal to keep Al-Okhdood fighting, the former Real Madrid forward completed his treble with a powerful finish past goalkeeper, Samuel Portugal.
The visitors’ difficult evening was compounded when Naif Asiri received his second yellow card with seven minutes remaining, reducing them to 10 men. Al-Okhdood’s numerical disadvantage merely confirmed what had already become apparent during a dominant performance from the defending champions.
The comprehensive victory places Al-Ittihad level on points with both Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, who each claimed opening-day wins on Friday. Al-Qadisiyah also started their campaign positively on Saturday, overcoming Al-Najma 3-1 with new signing Mateo Retegui contributing two goals to their winning cause.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
