Al-Hilal 3-2 Al-Ittihad: Jan-Carlo Simic says ‘small mistakes’ decided Saudi Pro League classic

Jan-Carlo Simic says Al-Ittihad paid the price for individual errors in their 3-2 defeat by Al-Hilal, a result that ended their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season.

The Saudi classic produced five goals as Al-Hilal claimed victory in the eighth round of the competition. Al-Ittihad had been the only side in the division yet to lose, but their defeat means every team has now suffered at least one loss.

“It was certainly a big match, and I know how important it is,” Al-Ittihad defender Simic told Asharq Al-Awsat. “It is one of the biggest matches in Asia, and the biggest in Saudi Arabia, so the pressure is great on both teams and everyone wants to win.”

The Serbia defender acknowledged that the contest had been difficult for both sides, but said Al-Ittihad had been unable to make the most of the outcome.

“It was a difficult match for both teams,” he added. “The result was not in our favour, and in the end we were unlucky.”

Simic believed mistakes made the difference against opponents of Al-Hilal’s quality.

“We made some individual errors, and that happens in football,” he said. “But when you face teams at this level, you pay for small mistakes. The fine details decide matches like this and determine the winning team, so we have to work on correcting them.”

The loss allowed Al-Hilal to return to the top of the Saudi Pro League. They moved on to 21 points, two ahead of Al-Qadsiah and Al-Nassr.

Al-Ittihad remained fourth on 17 points following the defeat.

Simic insisted that losing the classic would not alter Al-Ittihad’s ambitions for the rest of the campaign, despite the setback ending their unbeaten record.

“There are still many matches ahead of us this season, and one defeat will not define our season or the stage we are going through,” he said. “We are moving in the right direction and working very seriously.”

Al-Ittihad will have little time to dwell on the result, with Simic expecting another fixture within two or three days.

“We have another match in two or three days,” he said. “We will analyse what happened, recover, and then return again for the next match.”