Al-Hilal, by Jorge Jesus, beats Al-Ittihad and is in the final of the Saudi King’s Cup – International Football

Al-Hilal, coached by the Portuguese Jorge Jesus, today beat Al-Ittihad, 2-1, in the semi-finals of the Saudi Arabian King’s Cup in football, and qualified for the final of the competition.

Jorge Jesus’ team opened the scoring in the 25th minute, through the Brazilian Michael, after overcoming two defenders and the Al-Ittihad goalkeeper, to find the back of the net, an advantage they maintained until half-time.

However, Al-Hilal had a setback, the expulsion of Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, in the 42nd minute, for a very harsh tackle on an opponent.

In numerical superiority, the team coached by Argentine Marcelo Gallardo equalized in the 67th minute, through Moroccan striker Abderrazak Hamdallah, but Al-Hilal, even so, managed to achieve victory in the 82nd minute, through a goal from right-back Saud Abdulhamid.

Portuguese international Rúben Neves played the 90 minutes for Jorge Jesus’ team, and received a yellow card at 90+3 for pulling an opponent, while his compatriot Jota started the game on Al-Ittihad’s bench, but was released in field in the 61st minute, forcing Moroccan goalkeeper Bono into a great save in the 80th.

Al-Hilal, the current isolated leader of the Saudi League and favorites to win the title, thus secured a place in the final of the King’s Cup and are now waiting to find out if they will face Al-Nassr, led by Luís Castro, Cristiano Ronaldo and Otávio, or Al-Khaleej, coached by another Portuguese, Pedro Emanuel, who will face each other on Wednesday, in the other semi-final.