Video: Abha punish Al-Ittihad in a match of fatal errors

The night unravelled for Al-Ittihad from the start. A strong challenge during a loose ball in the seventh minute left Colombia's Richard Rios needing to come off injured, an early blow nobody saw coming.

Rios limped off the pitch in clear difficulty, forcing coach Jens Fissing to throw on Ahmed Al-Ghamdi in his place. The incident rattled the team, especially with the Asian clash against Al-Ain looming.

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Al-Ittihad's troubles did not stop at the forced substitution. Houssem Aouar then had a goal disallowed, denying the team the chance to turn their attacking efforts into a goal and further complicating the contest for Jens Wissing's players.

The flag went up for handball against Portugal's Danilo Pereira, who struck the ball first before it slipped from the goalkeeper and fell back to Aouar.

Al-Ittihad cranked up the pressure after the break, hunting for a way through the defensive block. Houssem Aouar found it in the 52nd minute. The goalkeeper's catastrophic error teed it up, the ball cannoning off his feet and onto the boot of the Algerian, who gratefully slotted home the opener.

Pushing for a second, Al-Ittihad spurned the chances that would have killed the game off. Vieira reshuffled his pack, bringing on George Ilenikhena and Marwan Al-Sahafi for a couple of attackers, looking to exploit the gaps Abha were leaving as they committed men forward.

The 82nd minute brought the turning point. Al-Ittihad thought they had the second that would all but seal the three points. Then VAR stepped in and chalked it off. The margin stayed at a single goal, handing Abha fresh belief to keep pressing.

With the result still in the balance, Abha piled on the pressure in the closing minutes. Substitute Faisal Al-Subiani struck the equaliser in the 87th minute, pouncing on a misplaced pass from Al-Ittihad defender Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti.

Al-Ittihad could not find a way back in front and had to settle for a draw against the bottom side. Those are two dropped points the team could ill afford as they chase the sides above them. Abha, meanwhile, snatched a precious point after a night of defensive struggle, clinging on and taking their chance when it finally came.