Al-Ittihad 2-1 Al-Fayha: En-Nesyri opens Saudi Pro League account in narrow win

Al-Ittihad returned to winning ways in the Saudi Pro League as they defeated Al-Fayha 2-1 at Alinma Bank Stadium at King Abdullah Sport City.

Youssef En-Nesyri scored his first goal in the league before Fashion Sakala levelled things early in the second half, but Hassan Kadish scored the winner with seven minutes to go as the hosts moved up to sixth in the standings.

The deadlock was broken in the 35th minute when Mahamadou Doumbia was played through on the right wing before he found En-Nesyri with a low cross, and Orlando Mosquera was unable to keep out the striker’s sweeping finish.

Al-Fayha equalised nine minutes into the second half, with Sakala’s downward header from Yassine Benzia’s cross getting the better of Predrag Rajkovic.

Al-Ittihad, however, were on top from there on in as Doumbia and Houssem Aouar both fired shots, albeit ones that failed to test Mosquera.

Nevertheless, the pressure on the Al-Fayha goal eventually told when Kadish’s deflected strike looped over the goalkeeper and into the far corner as Al-Ittihad boss Sergio Conceicao ran onto the pitch to celebrate with the matchwinner.

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Congratulations to our fans pic.twitter.com/DhMdnJj8nV

— Al-Ittihad Club (@ittihad_en) February 13, 2026

Data Debrief: Kadish to the rescue

There was little to separate the two sides, with Al-Ittihad producing 0.68 expected goals (xG) from 15 shots to Al-Fahya’s 0.65 from 11 attempts.

But left-back Kadish made the right impact at both ends of the pitch. He registered the most shots for his side (three), the most touches (86), won the most tackles (two) and won possession seven times (second most behind Doumbia with eight).

Sakala, meanwhile, became the second Al-Fayha player to have scored three consecutive Pro League goals against Jeddah teams after Danilo Asprilla.