'This is for the fans' - Al Ettifaq avenge derby defeat, dent Al Qadsiah title hunt | OneFootball

After a dispiriting defeat to Al Qadsiah less than two months ago, Al Ettifaq knew they needed to avenge the loss in the reverse fixture on Sunday night.

They did just that, coming through a thrill-a-minute Eastern Derby for the ages, prevailing 3-2 in a clash that not only included five goals, but two red cards and a disallowed injury-time equaliser.

Having given up a 4-0 defeat in late February, this time Al Ettifaq galvanised, even rebounding from a goal down at their EGO Stadium in Dammam.

And, as goalscorer Jack Hendry declared afterwards, this victory was for the club’s loyal fanbase.

“Yeah, brilliant,” said the Al Ettifaq centre-back when asked about the support on Sunday. “Obviously, we know how much this game means to them. We wanted to make them proud. We let them down last game and hopefully we made them proud tonight.”

Saad Al Shehri’s side certainly did that. At first, Al Ettifaq had fallen behind just after the hour, when golden boot-chasing Julian Quinones put Al Qadsiah ahead.

However, minutes later, Mohammed Abu Al Shamat was given a straight red for a push on Ondrej Duda, with Hendry drawing the hosts level with a header shortly before half-time.

Finally, 74 games into his Roshn Saudi League career, he had a goal.

“It's about time,” the Scotland international smiled. “I've had loads of chances in the league. I should have a lot more goals, but thankfully tonight I got that goal, which has been coming for a long time.”

From there, Moussa Dembele and captain marvel Georginio Wijnaldum propelled Al Ettifaq towards a memorable victory.

Even if they were made to sweat, first by Quinones’ second of the night three minutes from time - the 2026 World Cup hopeful moved alongside Ivan Toney at the top of the 2025-26 RSL scoring charts - and then Nacho’s apparent leveller in the 95th minute.

To Al Qadsiah's dismay, the Real Madrid great’s goal was ruled out for a foul seconds before by Gaston Alvarez who, following a VAR review, saw red.

Al Ettifaq, chasing a top-five finish this term, had survived. In doing so, they doubled their derby delight by denting Al Qadsiah’s late title run; with Brendan Rodgers’ unbeaten start halting at 17 matches, the Al Khobar club stay fourth, 10 points off leaders Al Nassr.

“We always knew it was going to be a difficult game because they’re obviously in really good form,” a delighted Hendry said. “They're doing very well in the league.

“Obviously, today was important for us. Our last game, we lost against them. It was a difficult defeat, but tonight we bounced back and it's very good to get the victory.

“Always when you get a team at the top of league who are pushing to win the title, they're going to come hard, even if they're one man down.

“Thankfully we held on tonight. But we deserve the win.”