Al-Ittihad 2-0 Al-Shabab: Bergwijn seals victory for resurgent hosts

Steven Bergwijn sealed a 2-0 victory over Al-Shabab as Al-Ittihad continued their return to form in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday.

Al-Ittihad snapped a five-game winless run by beating Al-Riyadh last time out, and they made it back-to-back wins thanks to Ahmed Al Ghamdi and Bergwijn.

Abdullah Matuq failed to capitalise on a defensive lapse from the hosts in the second minute, and Al Ghamdi made Al-Shabab pay when he turned home Roger Fernandes’ pass for his second league goal of the season.

Muhannad Al Shanqiti rattled the base of the post as Sergio Conceicao’s side looked to extend their lead, but they had to wait until the 85th minute for their second goal.

Al Shanqiti’s cross following a counter-attack was guided into an open net by Bergwijn, who scored in the league for the first time since September.

Substitute Abdulaziz Al Bishi thought he added a third for Al-Ittihad but strayed into an offside position before his low effort was deflected into the bottom-left corner.

| Ahmed Celebrates his goal against Alshabab #Alittihad_AlShabab pic.twitter.com/b3OOOwyAoM

— Al-Ittihad Club (@ittihad_en) December 27, 2025

Data Debrief: Al-Ittihad remain profligate

Although Al-Ittihad have now scored more than one goal in successive league games for just the second time this season, the truth is that they should probably have had more than two.

Their 17 attempts on goal – six of which came from Karim Benzema – were their most in the top flight this season and had a cumulative expected goals (xG) value of 2.37.

Still, they managed to secure a third straight win over Al-Shabab, who are now winless in eight Saudi Pro League matches for the first time in their history.