Pitso Mosimane Suffers Saudi League Relegation With Abha After Heartbreaking Loss on Final Day

Pitso Mosimane Suffers Saudi League Relegation With Abha After Heartbreaking Loss on Final Day

Godwin Nii Armah Tagoe
May 27, 2024 at 8:17 PM
In this article:
Abha logo
Abha
Saudi Arabia
31
Al-Hazm logo
Al Hazem
Saudi Arabia
25
Saudi Professional League logo
KSA Professional League
Saudi Arabia
  • Pitso Mosimane's Abha Club suffered relegation on the final day
  • Abha threw away a 1-0 lead, enduring a damaging loss to Al Hazem
  • The defeat leaves them in 16th spot on the league log after 34 games

PAY ATTENTION: Checkout Fixtures; Live Scores; Results and Tables section on Sports Brief and never miss out on the action ⚽️

Pitso Mosimane suffered a major setback in his glistening coaching career as his side, Abha Club, were relegated from the Saudi Pro League (SPL) after losing against Al Hazem on Monday, May 27.

The former Mamelodi Sundowns manager saw his side move out of the drop zone after a narrow win in the penultimate round of games, but their efforts were undone on the final day.

Pitso Mosimane, Abha Club, Saudi Pro League, Al Hazem, relegation, drop.
Pitso Mosimane's Abha Club were among the three sides relegated from the Saudi League in the 2023-24 season. Photo credit: @Abhafc_english.
Source: Twitter

According to FARPost, Mosimane joined Abha Club in January with the primary objective of ensuring the club's retention in the Saudi Pro League but ultimately fell short of his objectives.

Interestingly, two minutes after recess, Abha broke the deadlock through Saudi forward Ahmed Abdu to give Mosimane's side a glimmer of hope in their race for survival.

But this has been their bane all season; their rearguard has been leaky, and they were thoroughly punished by Hazem, who were already relegated prior to the final round of games.

Gambian attacker Mohammed Badamosi netted the equaliser in the 58th minute, much to the chagrin of Jingles and his charges.

Regrettably, things grew from bad to worse as Mohamed Al Thani scored his fourth goal of the campaign, his first since April 20, to turn the game on its head with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Pitso then made two quick changes, bringing on Mohammed Al Oufi and Luka Djordjevic in a bid to reclaim the advantage, but his tactical tweak did little to change the fate of the game.

Defender Marcel Tisserand received his marching orders late on, while club top scorer Grzegorz Krychowiak missed a stoppage-time penalty to at least salvage a draw.

The 2-1 loss at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Buraidah meant that Abha joined Al Taee and Al Hazem as the relegated clubs in dropping down to the second tier of Saudi football.

In a previous publication, Sports Brief reported that Pitso Mosimane has asserted that his emotions will not influence his decision when it comes to his next career move.

Mosimane considered a top contender for the Kaizer Chiefs job, emphasised that his approach will be strictly business when evaluating new offers.

Despite the heavy speculation linking him to the Naturena position, the 59-year-old affirmed that all options remain open at this time.

Authors
Godwin Nii Armah Tagoe photo
Godwin Nii Armah Tagoe
Godwin Nii Armah Tagoe is a Ligue 1, Bundesliga, and La Liga editor with five-year experience. He previously worked with Sports Corna and 360SportsGH.
Tags
Pitso MosimaneWorld