JEDDAH: Just as when many thought the Jeddah derby match between Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad was headed to a draw yesterday, Emad Miteb had other ideas.
The Egyptian striker proved he is the best deal so far by scoring the winner against Ahli in injury time and his fifth personal goal in the Saudi Professional League.
The 2-1 victory at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium enabled Ittihad to keep its perfect record even after facing league heavyweights Ahli, Al-Nasr and Al-Shabab.
Hisham Busharwan gave Ittihad its first goal in the 38th minute on the rebound inside the penalty box.
Muhammad Nur gave a nice cross near the goalmouth but the ball rebounded to the unmarked Busharwan who blasted the ball on the left hand side of the goalkeeper. In the second half, Ahli was the dominant team and created many scoring opportunities.
In the 57th minute, Mutaz Al-Mousa blasted home a beautiful goal for the equalizer after latching on to the ball from inside the penalty box.
Both teams launched several scoring attempts to no avail until Miteb struck the winning goal for Ahli in stoppage time.
With the game’s three points league leading Ittihad boosted its total to 16 points while Ahli dropped to seventh position with 8 points. In the other matches, Najran defeated Al-Hazem 2-1 and Al-Wehda defeated Al-Raid 3-1.
Meantime, Al-Riyadh takes its turn to host a derby match when Al-Hilal and Nasr clash today. Both teams will try to secure the full three points to keep pace with Ittihad.
