Mohamed Jahfali, Al-Faisaly’s defender, confirmed that the 2-2 draw against Al-Shabab was a positive result for his team, especially since the match was held outside his home ground against a competitor he described as a great team, noting that Al-Faisaly’s players succeeded in returning to the match after falling behind by two goals.
In an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat after the match, Jahfali said: “I think the draw is fair for both teams. Al-Shabab was the best in the beginning, but we managed to get back into the game. “And when you play away from home against a big team like Al-Shabab, getting a point is a positive result.”
Regarding the reasons for Al-Faisaly coach Giovanni’s anger in the last minutes, Jahfali explained that the coach was looking to continue the offensive pressure and not settle for a draw.
He said: “I expect that the coach wanted us not to retreat, and to advance further to take advantage of our comeback in the result and score the third goal, but Basogog’s injury affected us, and we were forced to play with a numerical deficiency after exhausting the substitutions, and therefore we had to deal with the situation rationally, which is what prompted us to retreat.”
Regarding his return to Al-Faisaly after his experience with Al-Hilal, he confirmed his great connection with the club, and said: “There is no message. Everyone knows that I started my career with Al-Faisaly, then I moved to Al-Hilal, and now I have returned to my home.”
When he was asked about the nature of his relationship with Al-Faisaly, he summarized his answer by saying: “Al-Faisaly is my family.”
Tunisian Jalal Al-Qadiri, coach of Al-Hazm team, expressed his deep regret for losing with a fatal goal to Al-Hilal in the tenth round of the Saudi Professional League.
Al-Qadri said during the press conference after the confrontation: We played an excellent match technically and tactically. We knew how to deal with Al Hilal's strengths, and we closed the spaces for it and did not make it play comfortably. If there is blame on the players despite their great performance, it is wasting some of the opportunities we had.
He added: Al Hilal was more realistic, and the decline in our players’ concentration in the last minutes cost us the loss of the match. Al Hilal is a strong team, and when you give them space, it will be difficult to stop them, especially since they have high-quality players, and we played with high character and confidence throughout the match.
Al-Qadri touched on the opponent’s offensive strength, explaining: Al-Hilal is a team that has players with high speed and is strong offensively. We succeeded in stopping it, and we were lucky in other shots. I believe that Al-Hilal is strong offensively at the level of the Asian continent, and it may have some defensive errors.
Regarding the work environment in Al-Hazm, Al-Qadri stressed: “The work environment in Al-Hazm is excellent, and the stability in the club creates a wonderful work environment for us. Al-Hazm is building a distinguished group of players today, and we performed wonderfully against Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahly, and today against Al-Hilal, and this is not easy at all.”
Al-Qadri concluded his statements by saying: “I have complete confidence in this group, and my criterion for giving the player the opportunity to participate is readiness, regardless of his identity, whether he is a Saudi or a foreigner.” By the way, I congratulate the Saudi national team on its recent performance, and I wish it success in the Asian Cup.”
Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli led his team, Al Hilal, to a difficult victory over its guest, Al Hazm, with an unanswered goal, on Monday, in the ninth round of the Saudi Professional League.
Al Hilal waited until the 89th minute to resolve the confrontation, after Gabriel Martinelli, who joined the team during the summer transfer period from Arsenal, succeeded in scoring the only goal of the match, giving his team 3 valuable points.
Al-Hilal strengthened its position at the top of the standings after raising its score to 24 points, two points ahead of Al-Qadisiyah, which is in second place, 5 points ahead of Al-Nasr, third, and 6 points ahead of Al-Ahly, fourth.
On the other hand, Al-Hazm’s balance froze at 9 points in eleventh place.
In another confrontation within the same round, Al-Faisaly imposed a 2-2 draw on Al-Shabab, after succeeding in coming back from two goals behind.
Josh Branwell opened the scoring for Al-Shabab in the seventh minute, before the same player returned and added the second goal in the 30th minute.
Andre Girotto reduced the deficit for Al-Faisaly in the 38th minute, while his colleague Alexandre Mendy equalized in the 79th minute, depriving Al-Shabab of victory.
With this result, Al-Shabab raised its score to 8 points in thirteenth place, while Al-Faisaly reached 7 points in fifteenth place.
