Pitso Mosimane’s Abha Football Club have collected a massive scalp in the Saudi Pro League, beating N’Golo Kante’s Al Ittihad to keep their survival hopes alive.
Mosimane and Abha suffered some disappointing results in the recent weeks, conceding 18 goals in just four games.
However, on Friday, Abha beat reigning champions Al Ittihad, who are one of the top-four sides in Saudi Arabia that had a massive cash injection ahead of the season and are captained by 2018 FIFA World Cup winner Kante.
Abha beat Ittihad 3-1, ending a six-match losing streak against Ittihad thanks to goals by Grzegorz Krychowiak (57), Hassan Hashim Al Ali (69) and Fabian Noguera (73), while Jota (63) had scored the equaliser for the visitors.
Even though the win wasn’t enough to climb out of the relegation spots, Abha climbed one spot into 16th on the log.
They now have 28 points, level with Al Akhdood, who have the better goal difference and just one behind Al Riyadh.
Abha have now collected 13 points in 11 matches under the South African tactician and have four more games to survive relegation.
