2018 Saudi Super Cup

2018 Saudi Super Cup
كأس السوبر السعودي 2018

Loftus Road in London hosted the match
Al-Hilal Al-Ittihad Pro League King Cup 2 1
Date	18 August 2018
Venue	Loftus Road, London, England [1]
Referee	Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey) [2]
Attendance	16,300
Weather	Cloudy 20 °C (68 °F) 74% humidity
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The 2018 Saudi Super Cup was the fifth edition of the Saudi Super Cup, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Saudi Pro League and King Cup.

The match was played on 18 August 2018 between Al-Hilal, the winners of the 2017–18 Saudi Pro League, and Al-Ittihad, the winners of the 2018 King Cup. ^[3]

It was held at Loftus Road in London, England, marking the second time the stadium hosted the Saudi Super Cup, and the third consecutive edition of the competition to be played in England. ^[4]

Al-Hilal won the match 2–1, securing their second Saudi Super Cup title. ^[5]

Venue

Loftus Road in London hosted the match

Loftus Road was announced as the venue of the final on 27 July 2018. ^[6] This was the second time Loftus Road hosted the final and was the third time it was hosted in London.

Loftus Road was built in 1904 and has been used as the home stadium of Queens Park Rangers since 1917. Its current capacity is 18,439, and the record attendance was 35,353 in 1974.

Background

Main articles: 2017–18 Saudi Pro League and 2018 King's Cup (Saudi Arabia)

This was Al-Hilal's third appearance in the competition. Al-Hilal won the 2015 edition and finished as runners-up in 2016. This was Al-Ittihad's second appearance in the competition. They finished as runners-up in the 2013 after losing to Al-Fateh. ^[7]

The 2017 edition, which was supposed to be contested between Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad, was canceled. The decision came at the request of then-Saudi national team manager Edgardo Bauza, who sought to adjust the domestic calendar to set up an ideal preparation program for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. ^[8]

Al-Hilal qualified by winning the 2017–18 Saudi Pro League on the final matchday with a 4–1 victory over Al-Fateh. ^[9] Al-Ittihad qualified by winning their ninth King Cup title, defeating Al-Faisaly 3–1 in the final. ^[10]

This was the 141st meeting between the two sides in all competitions. Al-Hilal had won 56 times, while Al-Ittihad had won 42 times, with 42 draws between them. ^[11] It was also the tenth final between them, with Al-Ittihad winning five times and Al-Hilal winning four times. ^[12]

Match

Details

18 August 2018

19:30 BST

Al-Hilal	2–1	Al-Ittihad
Carlos Eduardo 35' Rivas 62'	Report	El Ahmadi 67'

Loftus Road, London

Attendance: 16,300

Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)

Al-Hilal

Al-Ittihad

GK 26 Ali Al-Habsi RB 2 Mohammed Al-Breik CB 4 Alberto Botía  44' CB 5 Ali Al-Bulaihi  90+3' LB 12 Yasser Al-Shahrani RM 19 André Carrillo CM 28 Mohamed Kanno LM 29 Salem Al-Dawsari AM 3 Carlos Eduardo (c)  90+5' AM 21 Omar Abdulrahman  75' CF 11 Gelmin Rivas  79' Substitutes: GK 1 Abdullah Al-Mayouf DF 13 Hassan Kadesh  90+5' DF 22 Mohammed Al-Baqawi DF 70 Mohammed Jahfali MF 10 Mohammad Al-Shalhoub MF 15 Ahmed Ashraf MF 18 Nasser Al-Dawsari  75' MF 27 Achraf Bencharki FW 77 Omar Kharbin  79' Manager: Jorge Jesus

GK 12 Assaf Al-Qarni RB 11 Hassan Fallatah CB 5 Matthew Jurman CB 13 Ahmed Assiri (c) LB 36 Thiago Carleto DM 20 Karim El Ahmadi  90+2' DM 27 Jonas  45+1' AM 29 Valdívia  46' AM 10 Carlos Villanueva SS 8 Fahad Al-Muwallad CF 9 Romarinho  84' Substitutes: GK 1 Rakan Al-Najjar DF 24 Ammar Al-Daheem DF 31 Mansoor Al-Harbi DF 32 Omar Al-Muziel MF 6 Khaled Al-Sumairi MF 15 Jamal Bajandouh MF 25 Ali Al-Zaqaan  86'  84' FW 45 Aleksandar Pešić  46' FW 49 Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi Manager: Ramón Díaz

Assistant referees: Bahattin Duran (Turkey) [2] Tarik Ongun (Turkey) [2] Fourth official: Mohammed Al-Smail [2] Video assistant referee: Mark Clattenburg (England) [2] Assistant video assistant referees: Khaled Al-Teris [2]

Match rules 90 minutes. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Nine named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.

Statistics

Overall ^[13]

Statistic	Al-Hilal	Al-Ittihad
Goals scored	2	1
Total shots	19	13
Shots on target	7	4
Saves	3	5
Ball possession	47%	53%
Corner kicks	9	1
Fouls committed	20	16
Offsides	0	4
Yellow cards	2	3
Red cards	0	0

See also

• 2017–18 Saudi Professional League
• 2018 King Cup

References

1. QPR hoping for 'very popular' Saudi Super Cup game at Loftus Road
2. "الحكم التركي سونيت شاكير يدير مباراة السوبر السعودي".
3. "غداً .. تتويج بطل السوبر السعودي".
4. "إنفوجراف.. ملعب لوفتس رود يحتضن السوبر السعودي".
5. "الهلال يتوج بلقب السوبر السعودي".
6. "QPR to host Saudi Super Cup at Loftus Road".
7. "الفتح يستهل موسمه الجديد ببطولة "السوبر السعودي"".
8. "الاتحاد السعودي يوضح أسباب إلغاء مباراة الهلال والاتحاد".
9. "الهلال بطلا للدوري السعودي للمحترفين للمرة الثانية تواليا والـ 15بتاريخه بفوزه على الفتح برباعية".
10. "الاتحاد يتوج بطلاً لكأس خادم الحرمين الشريفين".
11. "تاريخ مواجهات الهلال والاتحاد.. هل تستمر هيمنة الزعيم أم للنمور رأي آخر؟".
12. "اتحاد جدة يتفوق على الهلال في النهائيات".
13. "Statistics".