Pitso’s Abha rebound from Ronaldo-inspired drubbing and move out of drop zone

Pitso Mosimane's Abha Club bounced back from their 8-0 drubbing by Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Al-Nassr with a 2-1 Saudi Pro League (SPL) home win against Al Fateh at the weekend that took them out of the relegation zone.

Portugal great Ronaldo's hat-trick spurred his team to a huge win against Abha last Tuesday.

Polish forward Grzegorz Krychowiak scored a brace as Abha beat seventh-placed Al Fateh at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Abha on Sunday.

Battling Abha, who have amassed an impressive 11 points in eight games under Mosimane, moved to 15th place in the 18-team SPL, out of the bottom three in the relegation zone with seven games to play.

The coach defended his team's performance against Fateh after they won with barely any possession.

“The players gave me their heart on the field,” the coach was quoted as saying via iDiski Times.

“We succeeded in proving our character with our success returning from a harsh loss by eight goals to a distinguished victory.

“I do not have Sadio Mané [who also plays for Al-Nassr] or Cristiano Ronaldo. I can only work with the elements I have.

“I’m trying with all my might to work hard but I don’t have more players with special qualities.

“The performance has improved since our arrival and we hope to continue this work to stay away from the relegation zone.”

Mosimane took over Abha on January 11 with the club in 17th position on 14 points with four wins and two draws from 19 games. They had not won in seven matches, six of those defeats.

Former Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly coach Mosimane and his South African technical staff have steered Abha to three wins, two draws and two defeats in their last seven league games to sit on 25 points from 27 matches.