Al Ittihad closed 2025 with a flourish, winning (2-1) in a difficult trip to Neom, in a meeting in which both teams reached this 12th round of the Saudi league with 17 points. After a troubled start, Sérgio Conceição managed to get the Jeddah team to achieve, for the first time in the season, four consecutive victories.
Roger Fernandes scored in the 14th minute: a great cross from Steven Bergwijn and the former SC Braga player scored with a header, beating compatriot Luís Maximiano and scoring his first personal goal in the championship. However, Neom equalized in the 27th minute, thanks to a well-taken free kick by Said Benrahma.
Sérgio Conceição didn’t want the team to take its foot off the accelerator and, after a balanced start to the 2nd half, Al Ittihad was once again (68′) in front of the scoreboard. Moussa Diaby accelerated down the right, dragged two defenders with him and saw Steven Bergwijn respond in the best way to the delayed pass.
Neom believed they could reach a draw until the end and made Al Ittihad sweat, defending their slim advantage. Until at 90+6′, Ahmed Al Ghamdi managed to escape Luís Maximiano, he even saw the Portuguese goalkeeper regain his position, but he actually managed to beat him and guaranteed the important victory for Al Ittihad.
After beating Al Shabab for the Cup and the championship and Nasaf Qarshi in the Asian Champions, Al Ittihad recorded their fourth consecutive victory in all competitions, the third in league games, in which they reached 20 points and are in 5th position, albeit provisionally.
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