Las Palmas vs Al-Ittihad FC

Al-Ittihad struck first through French winger Moussa Diaby, who collected the ball on the right flank, drove into the box and slotted past the Las Palmas goalkeeper one-on-one (15').

The game swung decisively in the 24th minute when Las Palmas midfielder Sergio Ruiz was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball challenge on Muadh Faqihi, leaving the Spanish side a man down for 66 minutes.

Al-Ittihad pressed their advantage early in the second half. Roger Fernandes replicated Diaby's first-half move — racing down the right channel and placing a composed finish into the far corner to make it 2-0 (50').

Las Palmas pulled one back through I. Medina, whose powerful strike from outside the box deflected off Mohammed Barnawi and wrong-footed substitute goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Absi (78').

The Saudi side had Farha Al-Shamrani sent off in stoppage time (90+3'), but Las Palmas could not capitalise in the remaining minutes.

Sergio Ruiz's 24th-minute red card for an off-the-ball incident effectively ended the contest as a competitive fixture. Las Palmas, still in the early stages of Rubén de la Barrera's pre-season build-up, had to defend for two-thirds of the game. Al-Ittihad's second goal arrived just five minutes into the second half — a period when the numerical advantage was most telling.

Moussa Diaby (Al-Ittihad) — The French winger opened the scoring with a clinical finish and was a constant threat cutting in from the right flank before being substituted at half-time as part of Jens Wiesing's planned rotation.

Roger Fernandes (Al-Ittihad) — Scored almost an identical goal to Diaby's early in the second half, showing sharp movement and composure in front of goal.

I. Medina (Las Palmas) — Las Palmas' best player on the day, scoring a well-struck consolation goal from distance that gave his side brief hope of a comeback.

The raw stat line — two red cards, three yellow cards, three goals — tells a story of a pre-season friendly that never settled into a rhythm. Las Palmas played 66 minutes with 10 men, which explains the 1-0 half-time deficit becoming 2-0 before their consolation. Al-Ittihad's two first-choice wide attackers, Diaby and Fernandes, both scored from near-identical positions (right side, one-on-one finishes), suggesting a deliberate tactical pattern from Jens Wiesing's side. The late Al-Shamrani red card (90+3') was a minor blemish on an otherwise controlled performance.

Al-Ittihad have now won both their Marbella friendlies — beating Orlando Pirates 3-2 last Tuesday before this 2-1 victory over Las Palmas. German coach Jens Wiesing fielded a near-first-choice XI before rotating heavily at the break. The Tigers round off their Spanish camp against Real Mallorca on 30 July before flying back to Jeddah. Their first competitive fixture is the AFC Champions League Elite qualifying play-off against UAE's Al-Jazira on 11 August.

Las Palmas, under Rubén de la Barrera, continue their pre-season preparations in Marbella as they build towards the 2026-27 La Liga season.

A pre-season friendly decided by quality in the final third and compromised by an early red card. Al-Ittihad's wide attackers — Diaby and Fernandes — look sharp ahead of their ACL Elite qualifier, while Las Palmas will take positives from Medina's well-taken goal but will want to avoid the indiscipline that saw them play most of the match with ten men.