Damac: The RSL giants killers affecting title race | OneFootball

If you were a Damac fan, you might be wondering how your side is lurking just above the relegation zone given the results they have celebrated in recent times.

At the end of January the club from Khamis Mushait stunned league leaders Al Ittihad with a 94th minute winner to snatch an improbable 2-1 win.

Not even two weeks later they were leading Al Hilal 2-1 with just 15 minutes to play, but had to settle for a 2-2 draw. But still, they had managed to take valuable points off the defending champions.

And then last weekend, they left it even later than they did against Al Ittihad, scoring from the spot in the 11th minute of stoppage time to seal a 1-0 win over an Al Qadsiah side that were third coming into the game.

It’s a formline that would have you believe Nuno Almeida’s side are challenging at the top of the table, but the reality is something completely different.

Those seven points have helped greatly, because that is the margin between them and the relegation zone.

Sandwiched in between those headline results, however, are losses to Al Orobah, Al Taawoun and Al Shabab, and dropped points against Al Khaleej and Al Okhdood.

The inconsistency would be maddening for Almeida and his coaching staff, trying to work out how they can be so good against the best teams, or at least take results against them, but struggle to do so against the rest. Those wins against Al Ittihad and Al Qadsiah are their only wins in the past two months.

It’s a situation that even perplexes those inside the club, with goalkeeper Florin Nita bewildered by their role as giant killers when speaking after their 1-0 win over Al Qadsiah.

“I don’t understand this situation,” he said, “because every time we play against a strong team we have a good result, but when we play against a smaller team, we don’t have success.

“Fortunately today we took the three points, and this is important for us and for the morale (of the team).”

While they aren’t challenging for silverware themselves, the results they have picked up mean they will have, and have had, a material impact on this season’s title race.

The loss for Al Qadsiah is particularly damaging. A win would have kept them in third spot and within seven points of Al Ittihad at the top of the table, and within just three points of Al Hilal in second.

As it is now, by not taking the three points with them back to Al Khobar they have dropped to fourth behind Al Nassr on goal difference. And were it not for Al Ahli inexplicably dropping all three points against Al Okhdood, the loss would’ve dropped Al Qadsiah down to fifth.

They’re now ten points behind Al Ittihad and face the biggest of uphill battles to haul themselves back into contention for silverware this season.

The thing that is notable about all three of those results against Al Ittihad, Al Hilal and Al Qadsiah is that all three were secured at home.

As one of the southernmost clubs in the league (only Al Okhdood are further south), it’s proof that a trip down to Khamis Mushait is never easy, even for the league’s best sides. The city's elevation, sitting atop the Sarawat Mountain range at 2,000 meters gives the home side an important advantage as visitors often struggle physically.

What they need to do now is something they’ve failed to do all season, and that’s to back up one of these giant-killing victories with another three points.

The last time they secured back-to-back victories came way back in November against Al Kholood and Al Wehda, two sides they face in the next three matchdays.

If they can get Georges-Kevin N’Koudou back to fitness that will be a significant help given his 11 goals and three assists this season.

The Cameroon international has been one of the standout strikers in the league over the past two seasons, with his 11 goals this season coming on the back of 15 goals last season. But, unfortunately for Damac, the 30-year-old former Besiktas striker has been sidelined since February when he went off injured against Al Okhdood.

His return can’t come soon enough as they look to keep a relegation battle at bay.

Games against Al Riyadh, Al Wehda and Al Kholood are all winnable, but are the type of game they have dropped so far this season.

Looking further ahead, Al Nassr become the latest big name team to head to Khamis Mushait later in April as they fight to keep their faint title hopes alive.

Having already played an unexpectedly significant role in the title race so far, can they do so again when Cristiano Ronaldo comes to town?