Steven Bergwijn scored a hat-trick as Al-Ittihad beat Al-Hazem 3-2 on Monday, making a striking impact at the start of his Saudi Pro League campaign.
The Dutch winger opened his league account for the season with three goals in the third-round fixture, recording the first hat-trick of his career in the competition. His performance also moved him to within two goals of matching his entire Saudi Pro League tally from last season.
According to Opta, Bergwijn had scored five league goals during the previous campaign. He therefore needs only two more to equal that total after just one match in which he found the net in three different ways.
Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadiyah reported that the 28-year-old had scored his first hat-trick in an Al-Ittihad shirt during the match against Al-Hazem.
Bergwijn’s opening goal came from open play before he completed the treble by converting two penalties. Those efforts proved decisive as Al-Ittihad secured a valuable 3-2 win.
The result adds to a productive opening to the season for Bergwijn, who had already scored twice for Al-Ittihad in the club’s 4-1 victory over UAE side Al-Jazira in the AFC Champions League Elite play-off.
Across his time with the Saudi club, Bergwijn has now scored 29 goals in 67 appearances. He joined Al-Ittihad in the summer of 2024 from Dutch club Ajax and has a contract that runs until next summer.
His latest goals represent a significant early step towards improving on his league output from last season. Bergwijn scored five goals and provided four assists in 21 Saudi Pro League appearances during that campaign.
The treble against Al-Hazem was also his first for Al-Ittihad since arriving in Saudi Arabia. It gave the club an important win in the third round of the Roshn Saudi League and placed the spotlight firmly on Bergwijn at the beginning of his push for a stronger individual season.
With three league goals already on the board, the Netherlands international is now two away from equalling the number he managed throughout the whole of last season.
