Abha defeats Al-Diriyah 2-1 and strengthens its lead in the Yellow League standings
Abha Football Club continued its strong performances and successful journey towards returning to the spotlight, after consolidating its position at the top of the "Yellow" First Division League, following a valuable and well-deserved 2-1 victory over its guest and direct rival, Al-Diriyah Club. This highly anticipated match took place this evening at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Al-Mahala, Abha, as part of the fifteenth round of the competition.
Details of the exciting confrontation
The match was exciting and highly competitive from the opening minutes, with the home side clearly aiming for an early goal. And indeed, the "Leader of the South" didn't waste any time finding the net, opening the scoring very early through professional player Silla Sow in the third minute, which disrupted the visitors' plans and gave Abha a psychological advantage.
Despite the early deficit, Al-Diriyah showed great resilience and tried to come back through several organized counter-attacks, which culminated in success in the dying moments of the first half, when Gaetan Laborde equalized in stoppage time, bringing the game back to square one before heading to the dressing rooms.
The decisive round and disentanglement
In the second half, Abha came out with even greater determination to snatch the three points, capitalizing on home advantage. The team continued their relentless attacking pressure until star player Meshal Al-Mutairi scored the precious winning goal in the 57th minute. Following the goal, Abha's players displayed excellent tactical discipline to maintain their lead, thwarting Al-Diriyah's desperate attempts to equalize in the final minutes, ultimately securing a decisive victory for Abha.
The importance of winning the promotion race
This victory holds immense strategic importance, extending far beyond the three points; it falls within the context of a "six-point game" as it was achieved against the runner-up and direct competitor. This season's Yellow League competition is proving to be one of the most fiercely contested, given the close levels of play and the desire of many established clubs to secure promotion to the Roshan Professional League.
With this resounding victory, Abha FC increased their points tally to 36, maintaining their sole lead at the top of the league table after 15 rounds and widening the gap with their closest rivals. Meanwhile, Al-Diriyah FC's points remained at 30, keeping them in second place, which puts added pressure on them in the upcoming rounds to ensure the gap doesn't widen further or that they don't lose their runner-up position to the teams vying for the spot.
