Karim Benzema won the Ballon d'Or only three years ago. However, at the age of 37, the former Real Madrid star is one of the main attractions for the Saudi Pro League. With Al-Ittihad Club, Benzema won the division this season and topped it off by winning the King's Cup too.
Al-Ittihad Club–Al Qadsiah FC King's Cup player ratings
Below, we're rating the Al-Ittihad players on a scale of 1 to 10.
Goalkeeper and defenders
Predrag Rajkovic (GK): 6
Rajkovic was reliable when called upon and cut out crosses well. However, he did concede Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's penalty.
Muhannad Shanqeeti (RB): 5
Shanqeeti struggled at times against the Mexican international Julian Quiñones, who was able to cut in and shoot on goal. The Saudi Arabian also gave away the penalty for a foul on Cameron Puertas.
Abdullah Al-Amri (CB): 7
Al-Amri made some crucial interceptions and was dominant in his aerial duels.
Danilo Pereira (CB): 7
Pereira did well to stop the former Arsenal forward Aubameyang from having more of an impact on the game.
Mario Mitaj (LB): 6
Mitaj was solid but could have done better to stop Al-Qadsiah players from putting crosses into the box.
Midfielders
N'Golo Kanté (CDM): 7
Kanté was able to get forward and be creative in the attacking areas. The former Chelsea player also defended well, which forced Al-Qadsiah into taking ambitious efforts from range.
Fabinho (CDM): 7
The former Liverpool midfielder had to be disciplined, which enabled Kanté to get up the field.
Houssem Aouar (CAM): 8
Aouar was creative and improvised well, but he was unlucky that his back-heeled pass was not deemed to be a penalty for handball. The Algerian also scored Al-Ittihad's second goal with a header. Aouar was brought down by Ezequiel Fernandez, which resulted in the Argentine being sent off. Hamed Al-Ghamdi replaced Aouar in added time.
Forwards
Moussa Diaby (RW): 8
Diaby, who used to play for Aston Villa, used his pace to his advantage on the wing. The 25-year-old was able to outpace Nacho Fernández on many occasions. This was to be expected as the Real Madrid veteran is 10 years older than Diaby. However, Diaby's final ball could have been better, and he would have got on the scoresheet if he had his shooting boots on. Diaby did link up well with Steven Bergwijn and was involved in the build-up to Benzema's first goal. Diaby's crossing did improve, and he set up Benzema's tap-in, which sealed the victory.
Karim Benzema (CF): 9
The ex-Real Madrid star was always lurking in dangerous areas. He chested in Bergwijn's cross to give his side the lead. He also hit the crossbar with a strike that rebounded off the ground. Benzema then scored in added time to make it three for Laurent Blanc's side. Saleh Al-Shehri then came on for Benzema.
Steven Bergwijn (LW): 8
The former Tottenham Hotspur player was always looking to get involved and switched flanks at times to put dangerous balls across the face of the goal. Bergwijn assisted Benzama's opener. Abdulrahman Al-Oboud replaced him in the 90th minute.
Substitutes
- Abdulrahman Al-Oboud, N/A
- Hamed Al-Ghamdi, N/A
- Saleh Al-Shehri, N/A