Azmoun, Arab Football's New Wizard; Iran's Sardar Al-Hawi, a Fresh Nightmare for Al-Ittihad!

Sardar Azmoun's stunning brace against Al-Ittihad drew wide coverage in UAE and Arab media, making the Iranian striker of Shabab Al-Ahli the headline of post-match reports.

According to "Varzesh Se", the two-one victory of Shabab Al-Ahli in King Abdullah Stadium in Jeddah was accompanied by the brilliance of Sardar Azmoun. The Iranian striker opened the gate of Al-Ittihad in the 7th and 16th minutes so that the representative of the Emirates won his second consecutive victory in the Asian Elite League and reached the group of teams at the top of the Western Region table with six points.

The Emirati newspaper Al Bayan welcomed this show with the headline "Double Test, Shabab Al-Ahly to the Asian victory against Al-Ittihad" and called Sardar the star of the match. This newspaper wrote in a section with the headline "Fifteen Minutes" that Shabab Al-Ahli took advantage of Azmoun's offensive efficiency and dealt two decisive blows to Ittihad before the hosts had a chance to find their rhythm. Elbayan also discussed the role of Reza Ghandipour and considered his deep pass for the second goal as one of the important scenes of the match.

Emirates newspaper Al-Ittihad also put the first name of the Iranian striker directly in its headline by choosing the headline "Shabab Al-Ahli hit Al-Ittihad with a double captain". This media wrote that Sardar created a calm and safe situation for the Dubai Knights with his early goals and allowed his team to manage the heavy pressure of the host in the rest of the match.

Al-Khalij newspaper dedicated the main headline of its report to the Iranian Star and wrote: "Shabab Al-Ahli defeated Al-Ittihad with a double header in Jeddah." This newspaper considered Azmoun's two goals as the main reason for the valuable victory of the UAE representative and emphasized that Andre Jardin's students have continued their perfect start in the elite league with this result.

The most analytical reaction was published by the Arabic version of 365Scores. In an article titled "From Azmoun's strike to Donnelly's brilliance, three tactical points that determined Shabab Al-Ahly's superiority against Al Ittihad", this media investigated the reasons for the victory of the UAE team and in one of its headlines, it used the phrase "successful substitution and the performance of Azmoun's magician in 15 minutes". The nickname "Al-Hawi" in Arabic sports literature refers to a technical, unpredictable and decisive player, and its use for Sardar was the most important praise of the Iranian attacker in the Arab media after this match.

In its analysis, this media pointed to Azmoun's use of the space behind the Ittihad defenders and considered the second goal to be a perfect example of Shabab Al-Ahly's quick transition. Guillerme Bala's injury could have disrupted the Emirates representative's plan, but Ghandipour's arrival and his assist with the first touch of the ball turned a forced substitution into a fatal blow. Sardar also created a scene with a long run, passing Yancarlo Šimić and Predrag Rajković's dribble, which attracted the most attention of the Arab media.