Al-Raed 1-3 Al-Ittihad: Saudi title race decided by comeback win

Al-Ittihad clinched the Saudi Pro League title with two games to spare by recovering from a goal down to beat relegated Al-Raed 3-1 at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Jeddah.

Laurent Blanc's men needed just one more victory from their final three matches to wrestle back the title from Al-Hilal, though their hopes of an early coronation seemed to be in doubt when Oumar Gonzalez put Al-Raed ahead.

Gonzalez pounced on N'Golo Kante's loose touch to slide home in the ninth minute and stun the Al-Ittihad supporters, though they were not behind for long.

Steven Bergwijn side-footed home following Abdulrahman Al Obud's surging run down the right flank in the 25th minute, as Al-Ittihad laid siege to Al-Raed's goal.

And the league leaders were ahead in the 40th minute, as former Paris Saint-Germain defender Danilo Pereira nodded Unai Hernandez's inswinging corner home.

Al-Ittihad flew out of the traps in the second half, with Al Obud turning home from close range after Al-Raed played themselves into trouble two minutes after the restart, leading to a carnival mood in the stands.

The second half was an even affair with Al-Raed managing five shots to Al-Ittihad's six, but Blanc's side never looked like giving up their advantage as they opened up an unassailable nine-point lead over Al-Hilal.

Earlier on Thursday, Al-Qadisiyah leapfrogged Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr to go third in the table with a 3-1 home win over Al-Wehda, who remain in danger of relegation.

Odion Ighalo put the struggling visitors ahead, but a Cameron Puertas brace put Al-Qadisiyah ahead before he turned provider for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's stoppage-time clincher.

There was also a 3-1 win for Al-Shabab over Al-Riyadh, with Musab Al Juwayr, Haroune Camara and Cristian Guanca scoring as they moved within four points of the top five. 

Data debrief: Double figures for Al-Ittihad

Al-Ittihad have won the Saudi Pro League for the second time in three years, and the 10th time overall, also triumphing in 1982, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009 and 2023.

They remain a long way adrift of Al-Hilal's record of 19, though they have inched ahead of Al-Nassr's tally of nine to go second in the charts outright.

Teams from Jeddah have won 12 titles in total (Al-Ittihad nine, Al-Ahli three), but that figure is dwarfed by the 34 by sides from Riyadh (Al-Hilal 19, Al-Nassr nine, Al-Shabab six).