Pitso Mosimane’s Abha Club suffered yet another drawback in their mission to retain the Saudi Pro League status.
On Thursday, they suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat at the hands of Al Shabab, a dent to their survival plot. Former Atletico Madrid midfielder Yannick Carrasco and Carlos Alberto Carvalho scored a brace apiece.
Senegalese star Habib Diallo scored the other goal as Al Shabab ran riot over the hapless Abha Club. The defeat meant Mosimane’s troops could not move up the league standings.
THE DRAWBACK SUFFERED BY ABHA CLUB IN THEIR BID TO RETAIN THE SAUDI PRO LEAGUE STATUS
They remained stuck on 15th position with 25 points on their tally. However on Friday night, they dropped to 16th position, the first relegation slot.
That was after fellow relegation candidates Al Tai stunned Knowledge Musona‘s Al Riyadh to leap out of the murky waters of relegation.
Al Tai now occupy 14th position with 26 points on their tally. Al Riyadh dropped to 15th place with 25 points just like Mosimane’s team.
However, Riyadh have a better goal-difference especially that Abha Club have conceded 15 goals in their last five matches.
Their latest defeat to Al Shabab is undoubtedly having a significant effect on their hopes of surviving as the relegation dogfight heats up.
Notably, Al Akhoud who are 17th on the log standings have 24 points, one point behind Mosimane and his men.
ABHA CLUB’S REMAINING FIXTURES THIS SEASON
Crucially, Abha face a daunting fixture schedule with teams that have had contrasting fortunes. Six matches remain before the curtain goes down in the Saudi Arabia elite league, and it is at this point that they need to avoid dropping points.
Under Mosimane, Abha Club have now played nine games where they won three times, drawing twice, and losing four times. All in all they picked 11 points out of a possible 27.
From this point, they have tricky assignments with Al Akhoud, which will be April’s last fixture. In May, they date Al Ittihad, Damak, Al Khaleej and Mosimane’s former paymasters Al Ahli.
They will wrap up the season with a clash against Al Hazm who currently sit at the bottom of the log standings. Two of the remaining opponents are also battling to save their respective Saudi Pro Leagus statuses.
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