Al-Ahli 3-2 Al-Nassr: Report, result and goals as Saudi Pro League leaders suffer first defeat of season
It was a thrilling contest in Jeddah on Friday
Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Nassr suffered their first league defeat of the season as they fell to a 3-2 loss at the hands of Al-Ahli in Jeddah on Friday.
England and former Brentford striker Ivan Toney scored a brace to give the hosts an early two-goal cushion before Abdulelah Al-Amri bagged himself a brace to bring the score level before half-time.
Merih Demiral then headed in what proved to be the winner shortly after the break in a game that saw both teams reduced to 10 players late on, as Al-Ahli held on for all three points and strengthen their grip on the fourth-placed spot.
For Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr, meanwhile, they remain top but the result opens the door for second-placed Al-Hilal to leapfrog them in the table with victory over strugglers Damac on Sunday.
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Toney gives hosts perfect start but Al-Nassr hit back
It was nearly the perfect start for the hosts, who were without several key players due to AFCON. Inside the first minute of the match, Toney skipped round Saad Al-Nasser before sliding in Galeno.
Nawaf Al-Aqidi in the Al-Nassr goal saved the initial effort and then Matheus Goncalves’ follow-up drive rattled the crossbar.
The league leaders were fortunate to escape unscathed. But the Al-Ahli early onslaught showed little sign of wavering. Just over five minutes later, it paid off when Galeno returned the favour with a low ball across the box towards the feet of Toney.
The ex-Brentford man made no mistake from six yards, firing in to give the hosts a deserved lead.
Ali Majrashi then squandered another glorious chance before Toney doubled his and Al-Ahli’s tally when he latched on to a ball over the top before finishing confidently.
Al-Nassr were gifted a lifeline in the 31st minute when Amri’s tame long-distance effort went through the legs of Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi to halve the deficit in embarrassing fashion for the Al-Ahli stopper.
The visitors suddenly sniffed a way back into the game and drew level on the stroke of half-time courtesy of Al-Amri’s header from Marcelo Brozovic’s outswinging corner.
In a frantic end to the opening 45 minutes, Toney then had a chance to grab a hat-trick in added time but his finish, from an almost identical position to the first goal, struck the wrong side of the post.
Al-Ahli edge end-to-end second period
The second half picked up where the first left off. Less than 10 minutes after the break, Al-Ahli got themselves back in front when Toney’s touch back across goal from a Goncalves free-kick was nodded home by Demiral.
Ronaldo wasted a great opportunity just after the hour mark when his touch from Joao Felix’s pinpoint pass let him down in the box as Al-Nassr again went in search of an equaliser.
A deflected Joao Felix effort rippled the side netting late on but the visitors could not find a way to preserve their unbeaten run.
Tempers flared in stoppage time, with Majrashi given his marching orders for a slap on Joao Felix before Nawaf Boushal saw red for a foul as the last man.