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RIYADH: The first 180 minutes of Al-Nassr’s season have brought nothing but joy for their fans. Despite concerns over the summer that the team was not doing enough to upgrade the squad, the appointment of head coach Ange Postecoglou looks like it might prove to be a masterstroke. Al-Nassr were technically the away side at their own home ground in the King Cup Round of 32 on Tuesday, as they are sharing Al-Awwal Park with their opponents, newly promoted Diriyah, this season.
And the reigning Saudi Pro League champions got a shock when fell behind early on, only to ultimately run out comfortable 4-1 victors against Bruno Lage’s side, who last season secured promotion to the SPL for the first time.
Oscar Rodriguez gave Diriyah the lead within two minutes of kick-off, but from then on the “hosts” struggled to contain Al-Nassr’s high press and, more specifically, the pairing of Joao Felix and Angelo.
In the 11th minute, Felix played a low cross to Mohammed Simakan after a corner was cleared to the edge of the box, and the Frenchman finished with a deft backheel to level the score. Al-Nassr took firm control of the game later in the half when Angelo set up a Felix goal in the 35th minute, and two minutes later Sadio Mane threaded a perfectly weighted long ball through to Abdullah Al-Hamdan, who made it 3-1. Felix completed the scoring in the 68th minute with an accurate finish past Nikola Vasilj.
Meanwhile, Al-Ettifaq suffered another nightmare in Hail as they faced Al-Jabalain, two years after the same First Division side eliminated them in the Round of 16. This time the underdogs went one better, knocking the SPL side out in the preceding round, with Henrique Luvannor’s 42nd-minute strike making all the difference.
It was the third consecutive year in which Al-Ettifaq has fallen to a lower-league side in the competition, after losing to Al-Batin in the same round last year. It was also the third upset by First Division sides against SPL opposition in the tournament this year, after Al-Orobah edged Abha on penalties following a goalless draw on Sunday, and Al-Wehda defeated Al-Shabab 3-2 the same night.
Al-Ittihad booked their place in the Round of 16 thanks to a brace from George Ilenikhena and a strike by Danilo Pereira that sealed a 3-0 win against newly relegated First Division side Al-Najma. Though the victory was not unexpected, it nonetheless offered a needed morale boost after the Tigers failed to secure all three points against Al-Kholood in their opening SPL fixture on Saturday, which ended 1-1.
Al-Okhdood reached the Round of 16 for only the second time in club history, with a brace from Rui Pedro on his debut enough to see off Al-Khaleej 2-0.
And NEOM secured a 3-1 victory over Al-Faisaly, with Said Benrahma and Alexandre Lacazette providing the goals for the Tabuk side.
The King Cup Round of 32 concludes on Wednesday when Damac host Al-Taawoun at 7:15 p.m., Jeddah take on last season’s losing finalists Al-Kholood at 7:30 p.m., and Al-Ula face Al-Fateh at 9 p.m.
