‘Arrive and kiss the saint’. That could be the definition of Karim Benzema‘s debut with Al Ittihad, who scored a hat-trick in the thrashing of Al Okhdood (0-6) to end a run of three consecutive draws and put all the pressure on Al Nassr in the battle for the Saudi Pro League title. They face Al Ittihad, the Frenchman’s former team, tomorrow, and the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, despite having returned to training, is in doubt.
The presence of Benzema in the Al Hilal starting eleven had consequences for the rest of the ‘stars’. Due to the non-EU quota in the Saudi Pro League, players such as Darwin Nunez and Marcos Leonardo were not part of the squad to face an Al Okhdood side featuring Neyou, who is on loan from Getafe until the end of the season.
Al Hilal, with a newly renewed Ruben Neves until 2029 embedded between the central defenders, looked quite sluggish when it came to moving the ball forward. In fact, it took just over 10 minutes for Inzaghi’s side to enjoy their first chance with a shot from the edge of the area by Malcom.
Benzema was not particularly sharp either. This is understandable for any player who, in addition to being inactive for several weeks, still has to adapt to his new teammates. But after a goal disallowed for a foul in the origin after throwing an exquisite wall with Milinkovic-Savic, Karim opened the scoring in the 36th minute. The ball was loose in the small area and he could have done it easily. But he showed off by shooting a ‘back-heel’ with a ‘nutmeg’ included.
Before the end of the first half, he failed to score a powerful cross-shot from the left by Theo Hernandez. He did not regret it. And, at the hour mark, he completed his hat-trick with two goals in a matter of minutes. Both were easy after sending in two crosses from Malcom and Al Dawsari.
Before being substituted with 20 minutes to go, he could have been carried off on the shoulders. But, when he was already celebrating his fourth goal, Malcom stole it from him on the line. There was still time, however, for the former Barcelona player to set up the fifth for Al Dawsari, who scored in stoppage time. With Benzema, life is certainly much easier. A debut to remember.
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