Al-Ittihad have been dealt a double injury blow ahead of their encounter with Al-Fayha in the Saudi Pro League’s eighth round.
The Tigers retained their spot at the top of the Saudi Pro League table after capitalising on Al-Hilal’s slip-up against Damac and defeating Al-Fateh 2-1 last week.
With goalscorers Karim Benzema and Aberrazak Hamdallah missing the encounter, N’Golo Kante had to step up for Al-Ittihad after assisting the first goal and scoring the winner with a sumptuous strike.
Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo will now have to find different solutions in attack as his main forwards could miss up to three weeks of action.
According to local reports, Benzema is suffering from a thigh injury and will require no less than a week for his recovery.
Meanwhile, Hamdallah sustained a shoulder injury during Al-Ittihad’s dominant win over Uzbek outfit AGMK in the AFC Champions League.
The pair is now expected to miss Al-Ittihad’s upcoming trips to face Al-Fayha and Iranian giants Sepahan away from home before hosting Al-Ahli in their final game before the international break in October.
It’s worth noting that Hamdallah is Al-Ittihad’s joint top scorer with Brazil’s Romarinho having scored five goals each in all competitions this season as Benzema
Benzema on the other hand had a slower start to life in Saudi Arabia as the Frenchman found the net just three times and provided two assists after six games.