Saleh Al Shehri scored the only goal of the game as Al Ittihad edged Jeddah rivals Al Ahli to go level on points with Saudi Pro League leaders Al Hilal.

Al Shehri turned in a cross from Moussa Diaby in the 42nd minute to give Laurent Blanc’s side a 1-0 lead in the derby, while Diaby was denied the chance to double that advantage in the closing stages by the woodwork.

Matthias Jaissle’s Al Ahli thought they had scored an equaliser through their captain Franck Kessie in the 59th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside after a VAR review.

Al Ahli had also gone close in the 51st minute when Ivan Toney rounded Al Ittihad goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic, but his strike was brilliantly cleared off the line by Abdulelah Al Amri.

Blanc’s side generated an expected goals (xG) total of 1.06 with four of their 12 efforts on target, while Al Ahli ended with an xG of 1.01 with three of their shots on target.

Al Ittihad have collected 24 points from nine matches - the same as defending champions Al Hilal who will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr on Friday.

Al Ahli, meanwhile, find themselves 13 points adrift of the summit in 11th place with just one win from their last five matches.

Data Debrief: Opening goal proves crucial again

The team that took the lead in league meetings between these sides had not lost in the last nine matches (W8 D1) and that trend continued after Thursday’s result.

Al Ittihad have also now won all six matches in which they have scored first this season.

Blanc also won in his first derby against Al Ahli in the league, with Cosmin Contra the only other name among Al Ittihad’s last 14 head coaches to achieve that feat.