Moussa Diaby scored twice to help Al Ittihad secure a 2-0 victory over Inter at the U-Power Stadium on Wednesday.
Diaby struck either side of half-time to ensure the triumph over the Serie A champions, and now has three goals in his first four games since his move from Aston Villa.
The defeat is Inter's first of pre-season, with Simone Inzaghi's side concluding their preparations for the new season against Chelsea this weekend.
Having been second-best in the opening exchanges, Al Ittihad took the lead in the 25th minute when Diaby was picked out by Houssem Aouar before firing the ball beyond
Yann Sommer.
Despite Inter registering seven shots to their opponents' four in the first half, they found themselves further behind two minutes into the second half.
A loose pass by Alessandro Bastoni was punished as Ahmed Al Ghamdi saw his effort saved by Sommer, only for the rebound to fall kindly for Diaby to score his second.
Milan improved in the forward areas but were unable to test Predrag Rajkovic as Laurent Blanc's side held on for the win in Italy.
Data Debrief: Diaby does the business
After scoring six times in the Premier League for Aston Villa in 38 appearances, Diaby has already scored half of that total in his first four games for Al Ittihad.
The Frenchman was in top form against Inter, registering the most shots (three) and shots on target (two), with his expected goals (xG) total of 0.24 only bettered by Benzema (0.55).
Bayern Munich 3-0 Union Berlin: Kane nets twice in easy Bundesliga win
Harry Kane scored twice to propel Bayern Munich to a 3-0 win over Union Berlin on Saturday.
Vincent Kompany's team moved, temporarily at least, to the top of the Bundesliga standings with the minimum of fuss at the Allianz Arena.
The Bavarians, who host Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday, opened the scoring with a 15th-minute penalty from England captain Kane before Kingsley Coman curled a shot past keeper Frederik Ronnow to make it 2-0 two minutes before the break.
Union were constantly on the back foot and could do nothing to stop Kane from stabbing in his second goal from close range six minutes after the restart.
Kane, who also scored a hat-trick against Stuttgart two weeks ago, now has 11 league goals this season.
Undefeated in the league and eager to reclaim domestic dominance after last season's double by Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern have now scored 32 goals and conceded seven in nine Bundesliga games.
Data Debrief: Goals, goals, goals
Bayern just cannot stop scoring. While they may be struggling in the Champions League, they are flying domestically, and they have now netted 50 times under Kompany in all competitions this season.
They are the first club from Europe's five major leagues to reach the 50-goal mark in this competitive season.
Meanwhile, since detailed data collection in 2004-05, only one player has collected more direct goal contributions in the first nine matchdays of a Bundesliga season than Kane this season (16), and that was the former Tottenham captain himself last year.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Milinkovic-Savic leveller keeps champions unbeaten
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic preserved Al-Hilal's unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season as his header earned the defending champions a 1-1 draw against Al-Nassr on Friday.
Al-Hilal dropped their first points of the season having won their first eight games, but remained at the summit of the standings, moving one point clear of Al-Ittihad.
Al-Nassr found themselves in front inside two minutes when Otavio's clipped ball found Talisca, who took a touch before firing the ball beyond Yassine Bounou.
The first half saw clear-cut chances hard to come by, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Talisca and Mohamed Simakan seeing their efforts unable to trouble visiting goalkeeper Bounou.
Al-Hilal, who had scored 23 goals in their first eight games, came closest to an equaliser after the break when Salem Al Dawsari struck the woodwork.
But the leveller came in the 77th minute when a free-flowing move ended with Milinkovic-Savic heading the ball in off the post after being picked out by Renan Lodi's cross.
Both sides looked to find a winner in the closing stages, with Ali Lajami coming the closest for Al-Nassr, but the points were shared at the Al Awal Park at King Saud University.
Data Debrief: Champions end Ronaldo streak
Ronaldo's run of four straight games with a goal came to an end against Al-Hilal, though he was Al-Nassr's most potent attacking threat during the encounter.
The Portugal captain registered a team-high 0.37 expected goals (xG) to Al-Nassr's 0.9 total, while also having the joint-most touches in the opposition box (five - level with Otavio).
Al Ittihad 1-0 Al Ahli: Al Shehri nets winner as Blanc's side match leaders Al Hilal
Saleh Al Shehri scored the only goal of the game as Al Ittihad edged Jeddah rivals Al Ahli to go level on points with Saudi Pro League leaders Al Hilal.
Al Shehri turned in a cross from Moussa Diaby in the 42nd minute to give Laurent Blanc’s side a 1-0 lead in the derby, while Diaby was denied the chance to double that advantage in the closing stages by the woodwork.
Matthias Jaissle’s Al Ahli thought they had scored an equaliser through their captain Franck Kessie in the 59th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
Al Ahli had also gone close in the 51st minute when Ivan Toney rounded Al Ittihad goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic, but his strike was brilliantly cleared off the line by Abdulelah Al Amri.
Blanc’s side generated an expected goals (xG) total of 1.06 with four of their 12 efforts on target, while Al Ahli ended with an xG of 1.01 with three of their shots on target.
Al Ittihad have collected 24 points from nine matches - the same as defending champions Al Hilal who will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr on Friday.
Al Ahli, meanwhile, find themselves 13 points adrift of the summit in 11th place with just one win from their last five matches.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
