Karima Benzema scored on his debut for Al-Ittihad to help them defeat Esperance Tunis 2-1 in the Arab Club Champions Cup at King Fahd Stadium on Friday.
In the Group A fixture, Al-Ittihad found themselves trailing in the 26th minute when Oussama Bouguerra scored for ES Tunis but they levelled matters in the 37th minute through Abderrazak Hamdallah off a cross from Benzema.
In the 55th minute, Al-Ittihad fans got a taste of what to expect this season when Benzema cut in from the left and unleashed a curler from the edge of the box which found the top corner past ES Tunis goalkeeper Amanallah Memmich.
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The 35-year-old Benzema moved to the Saudi Pro League champions signing a three-year deal after calling time on his career at Real Madrid and became the second big-name player, after Cristiano Ronaldo, to move to the Middle Eastern country with a host of other stars in Europe following suit since.
Benzema was later withdrawn in the 71st minute for Sultan Farhan while N’Golo Kante also came off the bench to mark his debut for the club after joining from Chelsea on a free transfer. Al-Ittihad have won the Arab Club Champions Cup once in their history, in 2004-05, and will be hoping to add to it this year. They will take on Tunisian side CS Sfaxien in their second match of the competition at King Fahd Stadium on Sunday.