Karim Benzema captained Al Ittihad to a 4-0 win over Al Riyadh (Al Ittihad Twitter)
Karim Benzema scored his first league goal for Al Ittihad and also gave away a penalty to his teammate amid rumours of unrest between the Frenchman and coach Nuno Santo
Former Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema scored his first goal in the Saudi Pro League amid rumours of unrest between the Frenchman and his Al Ittihad manager Nuno Espirito Santo. Benzema could have scored a brace, however, the star striker chose to gift a penalty to his teammate and a video of the incident has gone viral on social media.
According to multiple reports, Benzema had wanted to captain Al Ittihad after joining the Saudi Pro League outfit earlier this summer. However, coach Nuno Espirito had other ideas, and he instead informed the club board that the Frenchman wasn’t the ideal fit for his tactical set-up.
Thus, the former Real Madrid legend was reportedly rumoured to be unhappy as rumours emerged of unrest between the player and the coach however, Benzema was seen captaining Al Ittihad during their 4-0 route of Al Riyadh.
Not only did Benzema captain his club, after drawing a blank in the first two games of the new campaign, the 35-year-old netted his first league goal for Al Ittihad, and also gifted away a penalty to his teammate Abderrazak Hamdallah.
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The Moroccan had won the penalty and even though Benzema is the assigned penalty taker, the Frenchman made a sacrifice for his teammate who netted a third goal in as many games.
Earlier, Karim had broken the deadlock with a well-taken finish, having played a role in the build-up of the opening goal which came after just 17 minutes.
Al Ittihad later shared the video of their star signing with a caption, “KB9 always happy,” looking to put a swift end to the rumours regarding his exit.
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Benzema later reposted the video on his account as well. Therefore it seems there isn’t much trouble in paradise of the Saudi Pro League defending champions.
The latest win helps Al Ittihad remain at the top of the league standings with a 100 percent win record while Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr who finished second last season are third from the bottom yet to pick up a single point in two league games.
