Al-Ittihad tied with its host Al-Ettifaq 1-1 at Abdullah Al-Dabal Stadium, in the match that was held for the fourteenth round of the Saudi League.
The match was Marcelo Gallardo's first in his position as coach of the Jeddah Tigers after his appointment a few days ago to succeed former coach Nuno Santo.
But the Argentine coach did not have the magic wand to turn the situation around, even though Ittihad played an acceptable match and much better than his matches during the Santo era.
Al-Ettifaq took the lead through Georginio Wijnaldum in the 41st minute of the first half, but Abdul Razzaq Hamdallah succeeded in equalizing for the visitors in the 54th minute.
The Moroccan international's goal was the 750th goal in the history of the Saudi Professional League, and it was his 118th goal throughout his participation in the competition, in fifth place in the ranking of the competition's all-time top scorers, with a difference of two goals from the fourth, Fahd Al-Hamdan.
With this result, Al-Ittihad reached point 25, with which it is in fourth place, equal to Al-Taawoun, with one less match for Sukari Al-Qassim.
As for Ettifaq with its coach Steven Gerrard, he reached the 23rd point and remained in seventh place after the third consecutive draw in the Rushen League.
It is noteworthy that Al-Ittihad is awaiting an important match next Monday in the AFC Champions League against Agmak in the fifth round of the group stage.
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