‘Hugs everywhere’: Pitso on a high as Ahli surge to third place with win No 2

In a pressure environment where he has been tasked with restoring a big club to the top-flight in a new environment in the Middle East, Pitso Mosimane has hit the ground running at Al-Ahli Saudi with win No 2 in succession.

Mosimane’s first match was a 1-1 draw in the Jeddah derby against Jeddah Club. Al-Ahli then beat last-placed Najran 2-1 at home as Mosimane and his South African technical staff notched their first win in the second-tier Yelo League.

On Monday night Ahli notched a 2-0 win away against mid-table Al-Riyadh.

The three results have seen Al Malaki (The Royal) surge from seventh place after five games to third place after eight, just a point behind leaders Al-Faisaly, though the top two teams have a game in hand on Mosimane’s team.

Seemingly the results have also further assured Ahli they made a solid choice for their new coach as they tweeted a post of the coach celebrating with his players titled “Hugs everywhere”. Another tweet was simply a picture of Mosimane on the bench, captioned “+3 points”.

Mosimane has a two-year mandate to restore Al-Ahli — one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest clubs, who suffered a shock relegation from the Pro League to the Yelo League in 2021-22 — to the top flight and to consolidate their position there.