Blanc laments Al-Ittihad´s lack of initiative in Al-Ahli draw

Laurent Blanc was frustrated by Al-Ittihad’s failure to “take the initiative”, though they came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw with Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League.

Al-Ittihad twice trailed Al-Ahli on Saturday, with Moussa Diaby cancelling out Roger Ibanez’s opener before Ivan Toney looked to have scored the winner in the 82nd minute.

However, Karim Benzema netted a stoppage-time equaliser, with his strike going in off the post to earn the leaders a point, which moved them five clear at the top of the table.

Al-Ittihad endured a slow first half, accumulating just 0.07 expected goals (xG) as they failed to register a shot on target.

They improved after the break, dominating possession and scoring with both of their efforts on target, but they did not create enough to take the game to Al-Ahli, who had 13 shots overall.

“Until the last moments, we were trying to score,” Blanc said.

“I spoke with the players during half-time and asked them, are you waiting for Al-Ahli to score first? We should be the ones to take the initiative; we have to take risks to score.

“It is true that in previous matches, we were reactive, but against Al-Hilal [a 4-1 win in February], for example, we were the better side and did take the initiative.”

Al-Ittihad have now won just one of their last five matches in the Saudi Pro League, drawing the other four.

Blanc’s side are currently without goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic, left-back Mario Mitaj and winger Steven Bergwijn through injury.

“I don’t like to compare my team to any other team, but we must be realistic and acknowledge that we have many injuries affecting us,” Blanc added.