ALKHOBAR: Al-Ittihad fans and their rivals are keeping a close eye on George Ilenikhena as he continues to rise in star power this season. Is he truly the complete striker, or does he have his weaknesses?
He certainly silenced his doubters against Al-Ettifaq, scoring a goal before setting up another, and tormenting Arthur Papas’ side with his constant movement.
“I’m very happy with my performances,” Ilenikhena told Arab News after the match. “I work hard for this every day: to be performing every game, to help the team in the best way.”
Ilenikhena’s rise has been rapid. After playing six games as a substitute last season without a goal, he has scored seven goals with three assists in 11 games this season.
He first caught the public eye on Aug. 18 with a brace of powerful goals against Al-Najma in the King Cup. Three days later, he struck from long range to secure a 1-0 victory over Al-Qadsiah with 10 men. Then, on Sept. 5, came his crowning moment: a brace against Al-Nassr to give Al-Ittihad another big-game victory.
Ilenikhena missed the game against Al-Hilal on Oct. 10 in a move many criticized — he was not injured, but head coach Jens Wissing wanted to manage his match fitness — and that remains Al-Ittihad’s only league defeat this season.
But Ilenikhena was not disappointed, and said: “I’m very happy with the wonderful team we have. To work hard with them every day, to win games.
“We stay focused in the face of the challenges and that is what we did tonight.”
Wissing also spoke to Arab News about the challenges his side have faced since the international break: two defeats, a postponed game and many injuries.
One of those setbacks forced him to take off center-back Saad Al-Mousa, with Richard Rios moving back to center-back for the remainder of the game.
Wissing said: “Saad returned after a year out of action and did a good job, but ultimately we had to bring Rios back in defense when we took him off, and he did a great job.
“Ultimately, I’m happy with both the performance of the team, and the way we did it. It was very important that we changed the momentum after two consecutive losses.”
Al-Ettifaq’s Arthur Papas, meanwhile, was left disappointed by a defeat in which his side were inches from taking a 2-1 lead before Houssem Aouar scored Al-Ittihad’s second.
He said: “We needed to close a few spaces and play with what we had available,” a reference to starting in a 5-3-2 formation without Khalid Al-Ghannam, Moussa Dembele and Bersant Celina.
“We were missing key attacking players (Alvaro Medran, Jordan Larsson and Rayane Messi), but I think structurally we were good. Unfortunately, we couldn’t maintain it.”