SAUDI PRO LEAGUE: Pitso Mosimane’s Abha FC move out of relegation after victory over Al Fateh

Abha returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Al Fateh at their base, the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium on Sunday, after a heavy loss last week.

Polish versatile midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak scored a brace for Abha, finding the back of the net in each half of the clash.

The victory saw Mosimane’s men move out of the relegation zone as they now occupy position 15 on the log table with 25 points from 27 matches.

Before the clash, the Mosimane-coached Abha had suffered a heavy and demoralizing 8-0 defeat at the hands of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.

However, they were able to quickly put the loss behind them as they outclassed the seventh-placed Al Fateh.

Mosimane arrived at the club in January when they were rooted in the bottom three of the 18-league team.

All the teams ending the season in the bottom three will be chopped from the top tier and will face the unenviable task of competing in the Yelo League next season.

Three teams below Mosimane are Al-Akhdoud with 24 points, Al-Tai (23 points) and last-placed Al-Hazm (16 points).

Abha will still battle for their survival against equally desperate Al Akhdoud and Al-Hazm.

The South African coach, Mosimane, will be hoping for more positive results in the remaining seven matches before the end of the season in Saudi Arabia.

Abha will continue their fight when they travel to Al-Shabab which is position 11 and seven points ahead of Mosimane’s men on the log table.

While most of their remaining matches will be against mid-table sides and teams on the wrong side of the standings, Mosimane still has tough matches coming up.

The former Bafana Bafana boss will face his old employers Al-Ahli Saudi and Karim Benzema’s Al-Ittihad, who are third and fourth on the log table respectively.

Mosimane coached and promoted Al-Ahli in Saudi’s first division last season.