Selected by Didier Deschamps among the 25 French people who will play the Euro in Germany (June 14 – July 14), N’Golo Kanté played the 33rd and penultimate day of the Saudi Pro League with his club Al-Ittihad, this Thursday . The Jeddah-based club, fighting with Al-Taawoun for 4th place, hosted Damac FC, 10th, this evening and quietly won (4-1).
While his physical form is scrutinized and his ability to face high-level adversity is questioned, the number 7 of Al-Ittihad produced a clean copy, against a fairly weak opponent but who resisted well in the first period. Kanté, positioned quite low on the pitch, still allowed himself some projections, especially in the first half, and made several good pressures in the opposing camp. In particular, it was he who recovered the ball at 30 meters on the first goal. After delaying, he broke the opposing lines by finding Haji in the pivot, whose nice deflection found Jota. The Portuguese then concluded by crossing his shot at the near post (39th).
Involved in two goals but sometimes caught in a duel
He was again on the penultimate pass on the second goal, a nice deep opening towards Al-Sagour who crossed towards Haji. The young Saudi, already an international at 16, finished closely (48th), before again assisting Al-Sahafi’s goal (78th). Starting this evening in the absence of Benzema and the Moroccan Hamadallah, Haji has everything to shine on the international scene in the future.
For his part, Kanté was less visible in the second half, confining himself to more defensive tasks in the absence of his midfield friend Fabinho. With an interception and 5 recoveries, he was active in the fight, which also resulted in 3 fouls. He didn’t succeed at everything, beaten 6 times in duels out of 8 contested, but his 6 passes in the opposing final third are also to his credit. He even tried to hit twice, quite far from the target however. A good service, but which will require confirmation.
