Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq Continue Their Saudi Pro League Descendency With Loss Against Al Orobah in a Five-Goal Thriller
Steven Gerrard’s men have been on a decline since matchday three, and they failed to turn the tide around in their encounter against Al Orobah. The hosts had to play the second half with ten men after Abdullah Radif was sent off in the added time of the first half. Al Orobah capitalized on the man advantage to eke out a 2-3 win.
La Masia product Cristian Tello opened the scoring when he received a pass from Emmanuel Boateng just outside the box, aimed for the top right corner, and made the shot to make it 0-1. His effort was neutralized in the 44th minute when former AS Roma player João Costa calmly controlled a Vitinho pass into the bottom corner to restore parity at 1-1.
The most significant moment of the game took place ten minutes later when Abdullah Radif stamped Fahad Al Rashidi. Initially, he was yellow-carded, but after a VAR review, the foul was deemed to be a red-card offense, and he received his marching orders. Steven Gerrard’s men responded well to the sending-off when Gini Wijnaldum latched onto a Moussa Dembele pass and powered home to make it 2-1.
Once action resumed in the second half, Al Orobah were fully prepared to press their man advantage. In the 74th minute, Johann Berg Gudmundsson scored from 30 yards for the equalizer. Ten minutes later, Tello completed his brace to win the match for the visitors.
Steven Gerrard’s men’s highest rank this season was third place on matchday three, but they’ve been slipping since then. This latest loss puts them in position 9, down from 8 last week. Al Orobah have been on the ascendency since matchday three, climbing from 16th to their current 10th position. They are only behind Al Ettifaq on goal difference.
