Afrigather 
Karim Benzema’s hat-trick helped Al-Ittihad keep their good begin to the Saudi Professional League season as they thrashed Al-Wehda 7-1 on Saturday.
Benzema opened the scoring in beautiful trend with simply two minutes on the clock, curling a superb effort past the grasp of Ignacio de Arruabarrena.
Houssem Aouar doubled the hosts’ benefit, just for Youssef Amyn to half the deficit earlier than Fabinho’s header within the fourth minute of first-half damage time gave Laurent Blanc’s facet a snug benefit on the break.
Benzema struck once more shortly after the restart to notch his second of the encounter earlier than Fawaz Al Yami netted Al-Ittihad’s fifth 9 minutes later.
Substitute Saleh Al Shehri thought he had concluded the scoring within the 87th minute, however Benzema was to not be denied his treble.
The Frenchman was supplied with the only of finishes after Moussa Diaby’s cross into his path, with the previous Aston Villa man laying on 4 assists through the sport.
| Highlights from the Al-Ittihad_AlWehda sport pic.twitter.com/jOGXHgTZHN
— Al-Ittihad Membership (@ittihad_en) September 15, 2024
Knowledge Debrief: French connection
An emphatic triumph for the hosts noticed them register an anticipated objectives (xG) tally of three.69 from their 15 photographs, as their French forwards took centre-stage.
Benzema contributed 1.29 xG to the hosts’ whole, with the Frenchman having extra photographs on course (5) and taking part in extra passes within the ultimate third (30) than another participant.
However his compatriot Diaby additionally impressed.
The 25-year-old ended the encounter having created extra probabilities (5) than anybody on the pitch, together with his eight touches within the opposition field the joint-most alongside Benzema.
