Yanbu 0 - 3 jeddah (374269145)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 32883 at Yanbu Betze Arena today. Asbjørn Sandvik was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Sergio Pascau and Yossi Green. Fans of both teams had been eagerly awaiting this Al Bahah derby and were doing their best to outshout their opponents. Yanbu decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: Foldager - Terra, Marica, Breitling - Sillanpää, Dabanovič, Arizmendi López, Bonù, Coutin - Volmer, Barović.

jeddah had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Popolizio - Ehlers, Conticello, Clevenhaus - Berkelman, Leyva, Saiburo, Kegel, Mäkelä - Larra, Pepe.

Yanbu mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. Pressing was the tactic of the day for jeddah. With 2 minutes played, W. Conticello of jeddah fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. A lunatic dribble by R. Terra, in front of his own keeper, set up jeddah's J. Larra for an embarrassingly easy strike after 5 minutes. 0 - 1! At this time in the match, jeddah were using their skill at pressing to successfully stifle the game. W. Conticello remonstrated furiously with the referee after jeddah had another decision go against them. The referee had no alternative but to show him another yellow card and send him from the pitch. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 1. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Yanbu, with 65 percent of the ball.

The bench was restless, and with 54 minutes passed Yanbu's coach gave O. Kahsib the opportunity the player had been hoping for. R. Bonù reluctantly left the field. After 56 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for E. Berkelman who increased jeddah's lead to 0 - 2. Yanbu players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot coming in from the right from P. Clevenhaus after 74 minutes, and prevented jeddah from going up another goal. The head of B. Ehlers connected with a corner kick after 78 minutes, and the ball ended up with D. Leyva of jeddah who blasted the ball into the net, making the score 0 - 3. Yanbu had most of the ball, with 61 percent of possession.

Yanbu's best player was O. Barović. On the other hand, C. Volmer's play was disheartening. Most important jeddah player was M. Mäkelä. L. Saiburo was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 3.