Al-Ettifaq opened its marketing campaign with a 2-1 win over final 12 months’s runners-up Al-Nassr, who fielded a weakened group and was with out Cristiano Ronaldo after he got here off injured following his double in Saturday’s last.
Two former Liverpool gamers — Sadio Mane and Jordan Henderson — confronted off carrying the captains’ armbands and it was Mane who opened the scoring inside 4 minutes for Al-Nassr when the Senegal ahead tapped the ball in from a cut-back.
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But Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq equalised early within the second half when goalkeeper Nawaf Alaqidi fumbled a cross and the ball fell kindly for Robin Quaison to attain.
Al-Ettifaq took the lead six minutes later when Alaqidi parried a cross straight to the toes of Moussa Dembele, who scored from shut vary.
Mane thought he had equalised late on with an angled volley, solely to see the offside flag go up. The referee added 14 minutes of harm time however Al-Ettifaq held on for the win.
