Al-Ittihad moved level on points with Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal after a 2-1 victory over Al-Shabab on Wednesday.

First-half goals from Abdulrahman Al Obud and captain Karim Benzema proved enough for them to record a narrow win.

Al-Ittihad dominated the opening stages but struggled to hit the target until a Benzema effort in the 32nd minute that Abdullah Al Muaiouf could not hold, with Al Obud on hand to break the deadlock.

That spurred Al-Shabab into life, with Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah seeing their first attempt saved by Predrag Rajkovic, but Al-Ittihad soon doubled their lead.

The hosts broke quickly before Hamed Al Ghamdi did well to square the ball back to Benzema, who guided his finish into the bottom-left corner.

However, just two minutes later, Al-Shabab pulled one back. Daniel Podence played a delightful ball across the face of goal, and Haroune Camara was in place to poke into the net.

Al-Ittihad pushed to regain their two-goal cushion after the break, with Steven Bergwijn and Benzema both going close, but a third goal was not required as they held on.

#RoshnSaudiLeague
#Alittihad_AlShabab
Congratulations Tigers #LegendsWeek pic.twitter.com/PkWVAeName

— Al-Ittihad Club (@ittihad_en) January 22, 2025

Data Debrief: Benzema provides the spark

Benzema had already matched his goal contributions from last season in the Saudi Pro League prior to this game, but he showed again he is not done yet.

The former Real Madrid superstar is now up to 12 goals for the season, along with his five assists, eclipsing his 16 goal involvements from last term.

Inspired by Benzema, this is now the first time since the 2020-21 season that Al-Ittihad have won three consecutive matches against Riyadh-based opposition in the same season, while they have scored in each of their last nine matches against teams from the capital.