Coincidentally, in the first match since the dismissal of coach Nuno Espírito Santo, Karim Benzema scored his first hat-trick for Al-Ittihad.
Nuno was dismissed earlier this week, following reports in Spanish media that the Portuguese coach was fed up with Benzema's behavior. The French star was said to be isolating himself from his teammates. However, Al-Ittihad reportedly rallied behind the 35-year-old forward and is now searching for a French coach.
Coincidence or not, on Friday night, Benzema probably played his best game to date since his move to Saudi Arabia. The former Real Madrid striker opened the scoring in the home game against Abha (4-2) with a penalty, set up Igor Coronado's 2-1 goal with a beautiful pirouette, and then scored twice himself within three minutes.
With his first hat-trick for Al-Ittihad, Benzema ended a streak of five league games without a win. The man who won the Ballon d'Or last year now has eight goals in the Saudi league. Al-Ittihad, last season's champions of Saudi Arabia, are now fifth, eleven points behind the leader Al-Hilal.
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