Two-goal hero Wijnaldum delighted with Al Ettifaq win after tough week | OneFootball

Al Ettifaq captain Georginio Wijnaldum conceded his side were “really lucky” to defeat Al Shabab on Friday, but said after a difficult week the club must now focus on kicking on for the remainder of the season.

New manager Saad Al Shehri got his tenure off to the perfect start only a day after replacing Steven Gerrard in the dugout, with Al Ettifaq prevailing 3-1 in an action-packed encounter on the east coast.

Eventually, two goals from Wijnaldum and a neat finish from Joao Costa earned Al Ettifaq a precious three points, although Al Shabab struck the woodwork numerous times, had a goal disallowed early and Abderrazak Hamdallah also missed from the penalty spot.

Speaking after the game, Wijnaldum admitted the hosts were fortunate to emerge with the victory, but urged his side to now build momentum following a week in which his fellow former Liverpool midfielder Gerrard departed the club.

“Every win for us is a really important one also because we are in a really difficult situation,” the Dutchman said. “A lot of things happened in a week, so all the positivity that we can get is welcome.

“A win like this gives a good feeling, but I have to say it is no guarantee for the next game. So we have to work hard and today we were lucky with them not scoring, but other games, it can be different and they might score.

"We have to train and have to change a lot of things, get better with a lot of things, and yeah, then we have to look forward.”

With the win, only their sixth from 18 Roshn Saudi League matches this season, Al Ettifaq climbed two spots in the table. In doing so, they moved to within seven points of sixth-placed Al Shabab, with Wijnaldum hoping this can mark the beginning of a strong finish to the campaign.

However, the midfielder tempered expectation by saying: “A lot of things have to still happen for us to change. If you saw today also, they had a lot of chances. They hit the crossbar one time, four times the post. They missed the penalty. If you lose this game, no one can complain because they had a lot of chances.

“So even though that we won today, I don't think it says enough that we are on the good path. We have to stay humble with both feet on the good, and look what we can change to win games.”

On the change in manager, Wijnaldum added: “It's always difficult to say. Every manager have his own point, feel on a team, before things went wrong. It is difficult to say what changed because [Al Shehri] is just in for two days.

“But yeah, we have to see until the end of the season; I hope it'll be a positive change in the way that we have better results. But it's always difficult to say what's wrong.”