RIYADH: In a night filled with drama, George Ilenikhena emerged as the true standout. Just last month he was still a relatively unknown quantity at Al-Ittihad, with Youssef En-Nesyri seemingly entrenched in the striker position in Jens Wissing’s lineup.
But a brace against Al-Najma in the King Cup followed before the winning goal against Al-Qadsiah on Matchday 2 further cemented him as one of the players to watch this season.
It still came as a surprise to see Wissing bench En-Nesyri for the clash against Al-Nassr. Ilenikhena had been in good form, but analysts on Saudi Pro League broadcaster Thmanyah had previously argued it was still early to claim Ilenikhena was a better fit for the starting role.
It took the player just 22 minutes to silence the doubters.
Al-Nassr were caught off guard by Al-Ittihad’s setup, with Steven Bergwijn and Ahmed Al-Ghamdi in the half-spaces to allow their fullbacks to stretch the pitch in behind Sadio Mane and Kingsley Coman.
This paid off as early as the fourth minute, when right back Ahmed Al-Julaydan received the ball in space in the final third and delivered a cross to Bergwijn, whose shot was parried by Al-Nassr goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi before striking the post. The ball bounced back perfectly for Ilenikhena, who left Al-Aqidi — scrambling to cover his far post — with no answer as he headed it home into the bottom corner.
Ilenikhena appeared to have scored his second in the 18th minute, receiving the ball in behind the Al-Nassr defense before blasting past Al-Aqidi. But his shoulder was ahead of the nearest defender, and the goal was ruled offside.
He did not have long to wait, however. Houssem Aouar delivered a lobbed through ball in behind the defense, which the striker latched onto before guiding the ball over Al-Aqidi to complete his double just four minutes later.
Al-Nassr found themselves in a similar situation to their defeat against Al-Ettifaq earlier in the season, albeit with all 11 players on the pitch. They were undone by Wissing’s targeted game plan, visibly struggling with the Jeddah humidity and giving up acres of space for Al-Ittihad to exploit on the counter.
Ange Postecoglou made a series of adjustments in the first half to help Al-Nassr find a way back into the game. Right-back Nawaf Boushal was tasked with tracking Bergwijn, while Al-Ittihad were forced to build away from their double pivot as Samu Costa tracked Dion Lopy and Angelo stayed close to Mukhtar Ali.
This allowed the visitors to regain control of the midfield, which proved telling in the 36th minute, when Angelo sparked a chain of events that led to his goal.
A combination down the left with Salem Al-Najdi carried the Brazilian into midfield, where he found Cristiano Ronaldo in between the lines. Ronaldo then produced a mesmerizing first-touch lob over the Al-Ittihad defense, which fell to Joao Felix just outside the six-yard box, only for Danilo Pereira to press him into Predrag Rajkovic.
Despite Rajkovic’s save, the ball broke to Angelo for the rebound — who struck past both Rajkovic and Pereira, the latter attempting to keep the ball out with a header off the line.
The goal appeared set to give Al-Nassr a boost going into the second half — and it did, even as Al-Ittihad enjoyed a dominant opening 10 minutes. The statistics told the story, with almost all key metrics more than doubling across the second 45.
Unfortunately for Al-Nassr, Rajkovic’s output also doubled in the second half, with the Serbian keeping out five efforts to deny a series of dangerous chances. His most impressive stop came in the 90th minute, when Felix slipped Mane through on goal, only for Rajkovic to deny him with a remarkable save, getting his head to the effort to keep it out.
Angelo continued to be the focal point for Al-Nassr until his substitution in the 78th minute, giving everything to help his side salvage at least a point. However, once Ilenikhena was replaced by En-Nesyri in the 67th minute, Angelo’s crosses became increasingly ineffective — the Moroccan striker proving a significant defensive presence for Al-Ittihad.
While Ilenikhena was the star on the scoresheet, few Al-Ittihad fans will forget the contribution of En-Nesyri to the cause. In the dying moments, with Al-Nassr’s Aiman Yahya bearing down on goal, En-Nesyri tracked back to the left-back position to deny him a shot.
Al-Nassr’s night ended on a sour note when substitute Abdullah Al-Khaibari blazed a last-ditch effort wide from range — Postecoglou burying his head in his hands as the referee sounded the final whistle.
The victory moves Al-Ittihad up to fourth place on 11 points, just one behind Al-Nassr, who have now suffered their first defeat of the season. Al-Ittihad remain unbeaten, though two draws have left them feeling they could be in a better position.
Elsewhere, two other matches ended in stalemates. Al-Faisaly and Al-Hazem shared the spoils in the Sudair region and Al-Taawoun and Al-Fateh played out a goalless draw in the Qassim region. Al-Faisaly, Al-Taawoun and Al-Fateh remain winless.
SPL action returns on Monday with Al-Khaleej and Al-Riyadh opening the round in the Eastern Province at 6:30 p.m., followed by Al-Hilal hosting Neom in Riyadh at 9 p.m. The round’s headline clash comes on Tuesday when Al-Ahli travel to face Al-Qadsiah in Dammam.
