Al-Ittihad began their King’s Cup campaign with a commanding 3-0 victory over Al-Najma on Tuesday, securing a place in the last 16 after a performance in which they controlled the game and settled the tie with three well-taken goals.
George Ilenikhena gave Al-Ittihad the lead in the 16th minute. The forward collected a through ball from Ahmed Al-Ghamdi before cutting a left-footed shot into the top corner of the Al-Najma goal.
Al-Najma attempted to respond with a series of efforts, but Al-Ittihad goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic held firm to deny them. The visitors were forced into an early change in the 27th minute when Jan-Carlo Simic went off with an injury, with Ahmed Al-Jalidan coming on in his place.
Ilenikhena doubled Al-Ittihad’s advantage in the 38th minute, finding the bottom-right corner with a low strike from outside the penalty area. His second goal ensured Al-Ittihad reached half-time with a comfortable 2-0 lead.
The Saudi Arabian side extended their advantage six minutes after the restart. Danilo Pereira rose to head in a cross from Muath Faqihi from close range, following a corner.
Al-Ittihad appeared to have added a fourth goal in the 58th minute when Ahmed Al-Ghamdi found the net, but the effort was ruled out after a video assistant referee review.
Al-Najma came close to reducing the deficit in the 79th minute, only for Joao Novais’ shot to strike the post. Rajkovic then made another important save to keep out a further attempt from Ahmed Al-Badakh.
Al-Ittihad protected their three-goal lead through to the final whistle and progressed to the last 16 of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup.
The result gave Al-Ittihad a strong start to their involvement in the competition, while Al-Najma were unable to turn their spells of attacking pressure into a goal. Rajkovic’s saves helped preserve the clean sheet, while Ilenikhena’s first-half finishing established the platform for a decisive victory.
Although Al-Ghamdi’s second-half effort was cancelled after the review, Al-Ittihad’s advantage was never seriously threatened. Pereira’s header in the opening stages of the second half completed the scoring and ensured the tie was settled before the closing stages.
