Al Ittihad under Sérgio Conceição lose to Al Hilal, crisis worsens | OneFootball

In Jeddah, in the classic match of the sixth round between the only champions of the last six seasons, the visitors scored through Malian Mahamadou Doumbia (41′), with an own goal, and Brazilian Marcos Leonardo (57′), a former Benfica forward.

Portuguese international Danilo Pereira played the full 90 minutes for Al Ittihad, as did his compatriot Rúben Neves, who had an influence on both of Al Hilal's goals: he took a corner from the left that was deflected at the near post by Doumbia, and also shot for a save by goalkeeper Hamed Al Shanqiti, with Marcos Leonardo capitalizing on the rebound.

Roger Fernandes, by technical decision, and João Cancelo, due to injury, were not included in the options for both teams, with Al Hilal temporarily rising to third place with 14 points, compared to Al Ittihad's 10, which occupies the seventh position, tied with Al Khaleej and Neom.

The Jeddah team has not won in three rounds and suffered their second defeat in the Saudi championship, in a match where they were coached at home for the first time by Sérgio Conceição.

The former coach of FC Porto and AC Milan, among other clubs, now has one draw and one defeat in the competition, interspersed with an away thrashing of the Iraqis Al-Shorta (4-1), in the third round of the Asian Champions League group stage.

Al Nassr, coached by Jorge Jesus and with Cristiano Ronaldo and João Félix in the squad, leads the championship and visits Al Hazem on Saturday, totaling the same 15 points as Al Taawoun, the second-placed team, which on Thursday won away against Al Fayha (2-1), a team managed by Pedro Emanuel.

Hours before the derby, Al Fateh, led by José Gomes, achieved their first victory in the Saudi League by beating Al Ettifaq at home (2-1), with a decisive goal from substitute Jorge Fernandes, to move out of the relegation zone and rise to 15th place, with four points.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.