DAMMAM: Matchday 11 of the Saudi Pro League kicked off on Thursday with two matches, while Al-Ahli and Al-Khaleej’s fixture was moved to Friday after King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was targeted in an attack on Wednesday evening, preventing the latter from catching their flight to Jeddah.
Al-Hazem hosted Al-Fayha in Qassim, with Bonheur Mugisha opening the scoring for the hosts with a header in the fifth minute before Al-Fayha icon Fashion Sakala equalized at the half-hour mark. In the 68th minute, Al-Hazem’s Sultan Tanker bundled the ball into his own net from a cross, but a late penalty from Amir Sayoud earned a point for the hosts as the match finished 2-2.
Later, in Al-Hasa, Al-Fateh followed up on their devastating late 3-2 collapse to Al-Khaleej with another defeat, as Thomas Letsch’s Al-Shabab cruised to a 3-1 victory. Djamel Sellami, who now has just one win in four games with 12 goals conceded, faces an uphill battle to avoid being dragged into a relegation fight.
It took just 17 minutes for Al-Shabab to strike, when Kennedy Boateng lost possession under pressure from Roger Martinez, who squared for Ricardo Mathias to tap in.
Ali Al-Bulayhi headed in Al-Shabab’s second in the 31st minute before timing his run to beat the offside trap in the 54th minute and tap in Yacine Adli’s cross. In between his goals came a consolation from Lukas Haraslin in the 40th minute, which did little to rally Al-Fateh on a forgettable night.
Matchday 11 continues on Friday with all top five sides in action.
Al-Faisaly host Al-Nassr at 4:30 p.m., followed by Al-Ittihad against Diriyah at 6:30 p.m. The Al-Ahli-Al-Khaleej fixture kicks off at 9 p.m., alongside the clash of the round, with Al-Qadsiah hosting Al-Hilal in Dammam in the battle for top spot.