South African-born coach Pitso Mosimane is three points away from fulfilling his mandate of saving Abha FC from relegation.
This comes after Mosimane’s side scored a stoppage-time goal during their hard-fought 2-1 win over 11th-placed Al-Khaleej on Thursday night.
Abha broke the deadlock first in the 34th minute when Guinean forward Francois Kamano found the back of the net to steer Mosimane’s side into the lead at halftime.
94th-minute goal
After banging on the door for the entirety of the second half, the visitors got their equaliser and levelled matters through Abdullah Al Salem in the 78th minute.
However, Mosimane’s charges would not back down in pushing for the late winner, and Fabian Noguera rose to the occasion and scored in the 94th minute to ensure that they walked away with crucial maximum points.
The win meant that Abha is just out of the relegation zone with 32 points on number 17 after both Al-Tai and Al Akhdoud dropped points in their respective matches.
The three teams are separated by two points, with Al-Tai having collected 31 points and Al Akhdoud having secured 30.
Short-term contract
With one game remaining before the conclusion of what was a tough campaign, Abha will have it all to play for when they travel to play bottom-placed and already relegated Al Hazem in their final match on Monday night.
In other matches, Al-Tai and Al Akhdoud will also lock horns in their quest to survive the chop from the Saudi top flight.
Abha hired Mosimane in February on a short-term, four-month contract with the goal of assisting the team to avoid relegation.
Since taking over the hot seat, Mosimane has collected 18 points in 14 games with Abha. Before his appointment, Abha was sitting on 14 points after 19 matches.
