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AS IT HAPPENED: Al-Hilal 2 v. Al-Ittihad 1 - Saudi Super Cup, London

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Al-Hilal lift the Saudi Super Cup at Loftus Road in London (Twitter: Saudi Super Cup)
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Al-Hilal celebrate a goal in te Saudi Super Cup final at Loftus Road in London. (Twitter: Saudi Super Cup)
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Al-Hilal fans celebrate their team's goal in the Saudi Super Cup at Loftus Road in London. (Twitter: Saudi Super Cup)
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Al-Hilal fans outside Loftus Road ahead of the Saudi Super Cup. (Twitter: @fasool2)
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New Al-Hilal signing Omar Abdulrahman. (Twitter: Al-Hilal)
Updated 19 August 2018
Kevin Affleck
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AS IT HAPPENED: Al-Hilal 2 v. Al-Ittihad 1 - Saudi Super Cup, London

Updated 19 August 2018
Kevin Affleck

LONDON: Carlos Eduardo ended months of anguish and heartache by firing Al-Hilal to Saudi Super Cup glory at a bouncing Loftus Road stadium on Saturday night.

Eduardo has been out of action since suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in December and he must have wondered at times if he would ever play again, let alone reach the exalted level he was playing at pre-injury.

But the Brazilian playmaker announced his return to full fitness, upstaged debutant Omar Abdulrahman, and showed there is plenty of life left in him yet by scoring the first goal after 35 minutes. The way he frenziedly celebrated, with a knee slide to the corner flag, summed up just how much this goal meant to him and was clearly a release of months of frustration. 

Gelmin Rivas made the game safe for Al-Hilal with a second just past the hour mark and although Karim El-Ahmadi pulled one back for the Tigers, there could be doubting the Saudi Pro League champions were worthy winners of this full-blooded encounter. They were just too quick, too nimble and too potent for an Al-Ittihad side who are looking to rebuild under new coach Ramon Diaz.

Al-Ittihad gave it a good go and huffed and puffed, but Al-Hilal just had too much quality in attack to the extent that they were able to leave the prolific Omar Khribin on the bench for 75 minutes. It will take some side to prevent Al-Hilal from winning the league title for a third straight season on this evidence.

They were by far the busier and more progressive of the two sides early on and Al-Ittihad were struggling to keep up with their slick movement. Indeed, crude fouls on Eduardo and Salem Al-Dawsari neatly summed up how they were desperately clinging on to Al-Hilal's coat tails. 

Al-Ittihad's defenders had their work cut out with the fluid movement of Al-Hilal's attacking players and it look a last-ditch tackle from the excellent Hassan Moaz to prevent Rivas from connecting with Andre Carrillo's low centre and scoring what would have been a certain goal after ten minutes. From the resulting corner, Al-Dawsari, unmarked and unchallenged, should have buried a header from an Abdulrahman corner, but he failed to even find the target.

Then Al-Dawsari, back from a loan spell at Villarreal, saw a shot deflected wide when he really should have played in Yasir Al-Shahrani on the overlap. But the goal you felt was coming and it arrived on 35 minutes, Eduardo ramming home a cross from Carrillo. It was the least Al-Hilal deserved for their vibrant start. 

The nearest Al-Ittihad came to troubling Ali Al-Habsi in the Al-Hilal goal was when Wanderson looped a header straight into his arms. It wasn't exactly one-way traffic, but it wasn't far off.

Diaz needed to make a change at half-time as Al-Ittihad were being over-run, but instead of shoring things up, the coach made an attacking switch, bringing on Serbian summer Aleksandar Pesic to spearhead the attack. It was a bold move.

It did nothing to shift the momentum, really. Just four minutes into the half, Al-Hilal were on the front again, Mohamed Kanno latching onto a through ball from Al-Dawsari to fire a rising half volley at Assaf Al-Qarni. You felt it was only a matter of time before Al-Hilal scored against and they did so on 62 minutes, Rivas rounding Al-Qarni to roll the ball into the empty net. The Al-Hilal fans went wild, believing that was game, set and match. The trophy, they felt, was theirs.

But Al-Ittihad refused to roll over and just minutes after Jonas forced a flying save from Al-Habsi, Moroccan international El-Ahmadi pulled one back. It was now game on with 23 minutes remaining.

Yet Jorge Jesus, the Al-Hilal coach, showed no signs of shutting up shop and he went for a third instead of holding onto the 2-1 lead by introducing Khribin for Abdulrahman with 15 minutes left. It made for a thrilling finale, as both sides threw the kitchen sink at each other, but Al-Hilal held on to win the trophy for the second time. 

STARTING LINE-UPS:

Al-Hilal: Al-Habsi; Al-Burayk, Botia, Al-Bulayhi, Al-Shahrani; Kanno, Abdulrahman; Carrillo, Al-Dawsari, Eduardo; Rivas.

Al-Ittihad: Al-Qarni; Moaz, Jurman, Hassan, Thiago; Jonas, El-Ahmadi, Villanueva, Wanderson, Al-Muwallad; Romarinho. 

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20:15 - FULL-TIME: AL-HILAL 2 V. AL-ITTIHAD 1: No, they can't - and it's a first Super Cup trophy for Al-Hilal! Omar Abdulrahman wins his first trophy with the Saudi club and it's the Blues who take the first title of the year...

20:00: GOAL - Karim El-Ahmadi gives Al-Ittihad hope of a famous come-back...can they turn this match around?

19:55: GOAL - 2-0 to the Saudi champions, Rivas with the goal this time...

19:45: It's still 1-0 to Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad pressing to get back into the game, but nothing doing so far...

 

19:35: We're under way in the second half, and Al-Hilal are looking comfortable. Will it be back-to-back league titles for the 'Crescent' this season?

HALF-TIME: It's Al-Hilal who go into the break ahead, thanks to that Eduardo goal.

19:05: GOAL - Al-Hilal take the lead in the 35th minute through Eduardo after he smashes home from a Carillo cross. Advantage to the champions of Saudi Arabia...

19:00: Ever wondered what Loftus Road and west London looked like? The Saudi Super Cup official channel have made this very handy video...

18:55: Both teams working hard, but little end-product from either. Tentative start from both sides.

18:45: Look who's working tonight's game - former Chelsea and England star John Terry and Egypt's Mido...

 

 

18:40: Cagey start from both sides, crowd in good voice. Al-Hilal looking slightly better, but Al-Ittihad's fans making more of the noise...

18:20: Excitement is building in west London ahead of the Saudi Super Cup, with both teams looking for their first title...

 

 

 

18:15: Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad go head-to-head in the Saudi Arabian Super Cup at Loftus Road in west London on Saturday evening, follow live updates here with Arab News.

 

Topics: Saudi Arabia sport football soccer SPL Al-Hilal SPL Al-ittihad

Dembélé scores last-gasp winner as PSG wins Champions Trophy

Updated 05 January 2025
AP
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Dembélé scores last-gasp winner as PSG wins Champions Trophy

  • The match was played at Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar, with PSG owned by Qatar-based QSI since 2011
Updated 05 January 2025
AP

PARIS: Ousmane Dembélé scored a stoppage-time winner as Paris Saint-Germain beat Monaco 1-0 to win the Champions Trophy on Sunday.
The France winger was unmarked at the back post to meet a low cross from the left by Fabian Ruiz in the second minute of added time.
PSG won the trophy, also known as the super cup, for the third straight time and a record-extending 13th overall. PSG won the league and cup double last season, with Monaco finishing second in the league.
The match was played at Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar, with PSG owned by Qatar-based QSI since 2011.
Désiré Doué hit the crossbar early on for PSG and Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Köhn made several saves.
Monaco improved after the break and hit the post through Eliesse Ben Seghir and Brazilian defender Vanderson.
Although Köhn made a fine save to deny Achraf Hakimi in the 74th minute, he failed to properly read Ruiz’s cross and Monaco missed out on winning the trophy for the first time since 2000.
Later Sunday, Marseille looked to strengthen its grip on second place in Ligue 1 with a home win against lowly Le Havre.
French league
Marseille looks to strengthen its grip on second place in Ligue 1 with a home win against lowly Le Havre later Sunday.
Toulouse climbed up to eighth place with a 1-0 win at seventh-place Lens, which leads Toulouse on goal difference.
Striker Zakaria Aboukhlal scored a penalty in the 73rd.
The goal came shortly after Lens midfielder David Pereira da Costa was shown a second yellow card following a video review and was sent off.
Angers beat Brest 2-0, and Strasbourg rallied to win 3-1 at home to Auxerre and move into 10th spot.
Esteban Lepaul scored early on for Angers and fellow striker Ibrahima Niane, who replaced Lepaul in the 75th, wrapped up the win in stoppage time.
Strasbourg’s goals came from captain Habib Diarra, Félix Lemarechal and forward Emanuel Emegha, after Hamed Traore gave Burgundy side Auxerre an early lead in Alsace.

Topics: French Super Cup PSG Monaco

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Gauff inspires Team USA to United Cup triumph

Updated 05 January 2025
AFP
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Gauff inspires Team USA to United Cup triumph

  • Gauff opened with a statement 6-4, 6-4 win over Swiatek in 1hr 51min of hard-hitting tennis to fire a warning shot ahead of the Australian Open
Updated 05 January 2025
AFP

SYDNEY: Coco Gauff roared past Iga Swiatek to inspire Team USA on Sunday before Taylor Fritz sealed the United Cup title with victory over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in Sydney.

Gauff opened with a statement 6-4, 6-4 win over Swiatek in 1hr 51min of hard-hitting tennis to fire a warning shot ahead of the Australian Open.

Big-serving Fritz then battled through against Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4) to spark wild celebrations as the Americans won the mixed-teams cup for the second time in three years after winning the inaugural event in 2023.

For Poland it meant falling at the final hurdle again after losing to Germany 12 months ago.

Gauff set the ball rolling with a second victory in a row over Swiatek after beating the former world No. 1 at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on her way to the title.

Gauff had won all six of her previous singles and doubles matches this week and continued her streak when Swiatek double-faulted on match point at 4-5, 30-40 in the second set. “I have the belief that I am one of the best players in the world, and when I play good tennis, it’s hard for me to be beaten,” said Gauff, who won the award as player of the tournament.

The 20-year-old will go into the first Grand Slam of the year next Sunday unbeaten in singles since losing to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Wuhan semifinals in October, and brimming with confidence. “Today I think I played great tennis, and I’m happy to get a point,” she said. “It was tough today. I’m not gonna lie.”

Gauff’s victory left the US one win away from lifting the title for the second time, and Fritz delivered after edging a third-set tiebreak to seal a tense encounter.

“It’s been a great week,” said Fritz. “They’re an incredibly tough team and the margins are very small,” he added after a serve-dominated match that featured 30 aces and just three break points.

“I feel like it could have always gone either way. Just want to say thanks to my whole team.”

Earlier, Swiatek took a medical timeout at 5-4 down in the second set to have strapping put on her niggling left thigh which has bothered her all week in Sydney.

After losing to Gauff, Swiatek left the court in tears, walking gingerly, but returned laughing and joking during the trophy presentations.

Red-hot Gauff, who did not drop a set in five singles matches, goes into the Australian Open as world number three.

She enjoyed United Cup singles wins over Leylah Fernandez, Donna Vekic, Zhang Shuai, Karolina Muchova and Swiatek.

Fritz, who is at career-best number four in the rankings, dropped his opening United Cup match to Felix Auger-Aliassime but then won four straight.

Topics: United Cup Coco Gauff Team USA

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Dakar Rally defending champion Sainz flips in dunes, is an hour off lead

Updated 05 January 2025
AP
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Dakar Rally defending champion Sainz flips in dunes, is an hour off lead

  • Sainz was within five minutes of the leaders after more than 200 kilometers, but his Ford Raptor turned upside down in the dunes at 327 kilometers
Updated 05 January 2025
AP

BISHA, Saudi Arabia: Defending champion Carlos Sainz was nearly an hour off the pace in the Dakar Rally after his car flipped in the Saudi Arabia dunes on Sunday.
Local driver Yazeed Al Rajhi led the race at the mandatory evening rest stop north of Bisha on the nearly 1,000-kilometer second stage, which started early Sunday and finishes late Monday.
But his lead was only 79 seconds over five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Sainz was within five minutes of the leaders after more than 200 kilometers, but his Ford Raptor turned upside down in the dunes at 327 kilometers. Teammate Mitch Guthrie helped Sainz right the car after 20 minutes but broken rear parts were left behind and Sainz limped to the rest area at 620 kilometers, more than 59 minutes behind.
Another title contender who suffered was Sebastien Loeb, who won this stage last year. The Frenchman broke down with fan issues at 409 kilometers and arrived more than 32 minutes back.
Al-Attiyah led Al Rajhi by four minutes in the early going but Al Rajhi turned the tables about 350 kilometers in and held on.
Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom was running third, nine minutes back. He was the only driver within 10 minutes of Al Rajhi.
First stage winner Seth Quintero was 48 minutes back.
Australian rider Daniel Sanders continued to set the pace in the motorbike class, even after starting at the back from winning the first stage.
Racing a different course to the cars, Sanders was only 40 seconds ahead of American titleholder Ricky Brabec.
Ross Branch, second last year, lost some time but was still third.
The 48-hour chrono stage was introduced last year, sending racers into the desert overnight with minimal team help. What organizers call “the quintessential rally-raid experience” was the stage in which Al Rajhi’s car somersaulted and he was forced to abandon the 2024 race.
The stage resumes at dawn on Monday.

Topics: Motorsport Saudi Arabia Dakar Rally Carlos Sainz

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Manchester United hold Liverpool in Premier League thriller to end losing streak

Updated 05 January 2025
AFP
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Manchester United hold Liverpool in Premier League thriller to end losing streak

  • United broke their six-year goal drought at Anfield to open the scoring in spectacular fashion through Lisandro Martinez
  • Liverpool boss Slot warned that United were “much better” than their shocking league position suggested
Updated 05 January 2025
AFP

LIVERPOOL: Manchester United rallied to snap a four-game losing streak and halt Liverpool’s romp toward the Premier League title in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Anfield on Sunday.
Liverpool move six points clear at the top of the table, with a game in hand to come, over second-placed Arsenal.
But this was an opportunity lost for Arne Slot’s men after they came from behind to lead 2-1 through Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah’s penalty.
United broke their six-year goal drought at Anfield to open the scoring in spectacular fashion through Lisandro Martinez and got the point a much-improved performance deserved when Amad Diallo levelled on 80 minutes.
A point edges the Red Devils up to 13th in the table and seven clear of the relegation zone.
Liverpool boss Slot warned that United were “much better” than their shocking league position suggested ahead of the game and so it proved.
United had been carved open at will by Newcastle in a dismal 2-0 defeat on Monday that left manager Ruben Amorim declaring they were in a relegation battle.
Amorim’s hand was strengthened by the return of captain Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte from suspension, while Kobbie Mainoo also returned to the starting line-up.
The Portuguese’s plan to frustrate Liverpool worked but the home side did have the chances early on to make the breakthrough.
Gakpo prodded past the far post from Ryan Gravenberch’s through ball.
Moments later Salah picked out Alexis Mac Allister with a sumptuous pass that the Argentine caught flush and forced Andre Onana into a fine save with his feet.
United took time to begin to impose themselves as an attacking threat but should have been in front before the break.
Diallo miscued his header with the goal gaping from Diogo Dalot’s cross.
Rasmus Hojlund then had the best chance of the first half when he raced in behind the Liverpool defense but could not beat Alisson Becker.
However, confidence was suddenly coursing back into United players who have looked bereft in recent weeks.
The visitors’ breakthrough came from an unlikely source as Martinez showed his strikers how to finish with a blistering hit in off the underside of the bar for just his second goal for the club.
The Anfield crowd were beginning to get restless as the league leaders were briefly at sixes and sevens.
However, Liverpool’s position at the top of the table owes much to the depth of firepower they possess.
Even on a quiet day for Salah, they had an in-form forward to come up with the moment of magic required to turn the game.
Gakpo turned inside his Dutch international colleague Matthijs de Ligt and blasted high past Onana for his 10th goal in 15 games on the hour mark.
Despite the equalizer Slot immediately made two offensive changes, as Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez were introduced, and got his reward.
MacAllister’s header flicked off De Ligt’s outstretched arm inside the penalty area and a VAR review resulted in the awarding of a spot-kick.
Salah smashed low and hard beyond Onana for his 18th Premier League goal in 19 games.
However, United’s spirited display got the point it merited to halt an alarming losing streak for Amorim so early in his reign.
Alejandro Garnacho’s attitude has been questioned by his new boss but the Argentine came off the bench to make the equalizer as his low cross was turned in by Diallo.
And it should have been even better for United when Harry Maguire spooned Joshua Zirkzee’s pass over the bar with the goal gaping deep into stoppage time.

Topics: football soccer England Premier league Liverpool Manchester United

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Inter Milan eye historic Italian Super Cup triumph in Riyadh showdown with rivals AC Milan

Updated 05 January 2025
Arab News
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Inter Milan eye historic Italian Super Cup triumph in Riyadh showdown with rivals AC Milan

  • Both sides aiming to secure early-season silverware
Updated 05 January 2025
Arab News

RIYADH: Inter Milan and AC Milan meet on Monday in the Italian Super Cup final at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh, with both sides aiming to secure early-season silverware in what promises to be a competitive Milan derby.

Inter head into the match looking to extend their recent dominance in the competition, having won the past three Super Cups, including two in Riyadh.

Victory would see them claim a record fourth consecutive title. AC Milan, however, are seeking to end their own trophy drought and derail Inter’s impressive run.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Sunday, Inter captain Lautaro Martinez highlighted the significance of playing in Saudi Arabia, where he scored in both of his team’s previous Super Cup finals in Riyadh.

He said: “For us, playing here has been important in the past finals because we won the trophy and because I scored.

“This is a derby and a final, and we all know how important it is. The goal is to win and bring the trophy home.”

Inter secured their place in the final with a 2-0 victory over Atalanta on Thursday, thanks to two goals from Denzel Dumfries.

Manager Simone Inzaghi, who has overseen all of Inter’s recent Super Cup wins, acknowledged the challenge of competing in a derby final.

He said: “It would be very special to win the Super Cup for the fourth time with Inter.

“We face a strong opponent with the same hunger to win. We need to stay focused and deliver a strong performance.”

AC Milan earned their spot in the final by defeating Juventus 2-1 in their semifinal. New manager Sergio Conceicao, who took charge only last week, faces a significant test in his second match with the club.

He said: “The match will be difficult, but we have to focus on ourselves.

“My goal is to prepare the team as best as possible and ensure we approach the game with ambition and hunger to win.”

Conceicao’s plans could hinge on the fitness of key forward Rafael Leao, who is being assessed after missing the semifinal.

Midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, who joined the club in the summer, is eager to seize the opportunity to win his first trophy.

He said: “It’s a great chance for us as a group to win something. We have to play with confidence and take this opportunity.”

Monday’s match marks the fifth time the Italian Super Cup has been staged in Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh hosting for the fourth time.

Inter’s previous successes in Riyadh have given them an edge in the tournament, but AC will be determined to change the narrative and claim their first Super Cup since 2016.

Topics: football soccer Saudi Arabia Italy Italian Super Cup Inter Milan AC Milan

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