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November 8 (Reuters Sports Service) - Riyad Mahrez scored the winning goal in Al-Ahli's 1-0 victory over hosts Al-Ittihad in the Jeddah derby of the Saudi Professional League, continuing the defending champions' struggles on Saturday.

Al-Ahli moved up to fifth place with 16 points, while Al-Ittihad, winless in their last five league matches, remained in eighth place with 11 points.

Coach Sergio Conceicao is still looking for his first league win with Al-Ittihad after losing twice and drawing twice since replacing coach Laurent Blanc.

Al Ahly player Frank Kessie expressed his happiness with the victory, praising the team's efforts throughout the match.

He told Eight TV, "We gave everything we had to help the team. I give 100 percent of my effort in every game."

"I am happy with the performance of the entire team. We started the match comfortably, then everyone gave 100 percent of their effort and we won the match."

All of Al-Ittihad's attempts lacked precision throughout the match, and captain Karim Benzema failed to threaten Al-Ahly goalkeeper Edouard Mendy's goal.

Al-Ittihad player Houssem Aouar sent a corner kick towards Frenchman Benzema, who received it with a direct shot far from the goal in the 12th minute.

Al Ahly's first threat came when Mahrez broke down the right flank, but the defense cleared his shot.

Aouar headed the ball after a cross, but it hit Benzema's head midway through the first half.

Kessie almost gave Al Ahly the lead, but his shot hit goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic, who controlled the rebound. The Ivorian midfielder then shot, but N'Golo Kante cleared the ball off the goal line before the referee signaled offside near the break.

Algerian Mahrez shook the net in the 55th minute with a superb close-range shot after he expertly placed the ball under goalkeeper Rajkovic after controlling a low pass.

The second half did not witness many opportunities, with Al-Ahli retreating and closing their defensive areas, while Al-Ittihad controlled the ball without being able to break down the organization of coach Matias Jiesle's team.

Al-Ittihad's Moussa Diaby headed the ball just wide of the left post after a corner kick midway through the second half.

However, Al-Ittihad almost managed to equalize in stoppage time, but goalkeeper Mendy made a brilliant save.

Danilo headed the ball after a corner kick taken by substitute Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, but Senegalese player Mendy brilliantly cleared it to secure the victory for Al-Ahli.

(Press coverage for the Arabic bulletin by Mohamed Yousry and Taha Mohamed)