RIYADH
\nMatchday 24 of the Saudi Pro League kicked off on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the conclusion of the delayed Matchday 10. With the FIFA Arab Cup, World Cup Qualifiers and FIFA World Cup sandwiching the 2025\/26 campaign, resting periods have been few and far between outside the international breaks.
\nWith fixtures coming thick and fast, Al-Ahli opted to rest Riyad Mahrez and Enzo Millot for their clash with Al-Riyadh in the capital. Ramadan has further challenged the league schedule, with Matthias Jaissle\u2019s side only arriving in Riyadh at 5:30pm \u2014 just hours before kick-off.
\nWith their previous outing against Damac still dominating conversation, Jaissle was keen to ensure his players did not fall into the same trap \u2014 namely, being caught off guard by an opponent\u2019s unexpectedly proactive style.
\nTo his relief, Al-Ahli were largely in control this time. Yet the absence of Mahrez limited their creative spark. Relying heavily on Wenderson Galeno down the left, Al-Riyadh did well to crowd the Brazilian and deny him space to operate.
\nThe bane of any expansive side is a compact 5-4-1, and that is precisely how Al-Riyadh\u2019s recently appointed Brazilian manager Mauricio Dulac set his team up. A long-time assistant to former Al-Riyadh coach Odair Hellmann, this marks Dulac\u2019s first managerial role.
\nAl-Ahli\u2019s attacking routes were severely restricted throughout the first half. Al-Riyadh denied them the opportunity to press high, Mahrez\u2019s trademark diagonals were absent, and finding Ivan Toney in the six-yard box proved a difficult task. On the rare occasions the visitors broke the defensive line, Milan Borjan stood firm in goal \u2014 there was no getting past the Canadian.
\nThat was until first-half stoppage time. Al-Ahli had one more weapon in their arsenal: set-pieces. A lofted delivery from Galeno\u2019s free-kick met the head of Roger Iba\u00f1ez, who nodded the ball towards goal. Borjan pushed it away, but it was too late \u2014 the ball crossed the line.
\nVAR intervened within seconds. Iba\u00f1ez was a shoulder offside, and the opener was chalked off. It was a notable twist, particulary as the simultaneous fixture between Al-Fateh and Damac in Al-Ahsa featured a celebration aimed squarely at Al-Ahli and VAR. Earlier in the week, Damac equalised late against Al-Ahli via Yakou M\u00e9\u00eft\u00e9, only for the goal to be overturned.
\nM\u00e9\u00eft\u00e9 reacted angrily and lashed out at referees, but Al-Ahli escaped with the three points. M\u00e9\u00eft\u00e9 followed up with a goal against Al-Fateh, and celebrated by mimicking the referee\u2019s VAR signal. Back in Riyadh, Al-Ahli returned for the second half with renewed intensity. Zakaria Hawsawi grew more adventurous from left-back, threading lofted balls over the Al-Riyadh defence.
\nIn the 53rd minute, he found Toney behind the last defender, but the Englishman\u2019s volley was adeptly saved by Borjan. Five minutes later, Galeno latched onto Hawsawi\u2019s cross and thought he had broken the deadlock \u2014 only for the linesman\u2019s flag to rise once again.
\nAl-Ahli pushed, but as time ticked away, it seemed the coveted winner would elude them. However, once again, set pieces proved decisive. In the 75th minute, a corner from Saleh Abu Al-Shamat was parried by Borjan, only for his effort to be bundled into his own net, sending the travelling supporters into a frenzy.
\nAfter last week\u2019s scare, Al-Ahli knew they had to finish the job. Cue Iba\u00f1ez, who surged forward from deep before slipping the ball through to Toney to seal the game with what would have been his 24th goal of the season. The run itself deserved a goal, but Toney was flagged inches offside.
\nDespite another difficult outing, Al-Ahli did enough to secure a clean sheet and grind out a 1-0 victory to move top on 59 points \u2014 one ahead of Al-Nassr, who are yet to play this weekend. Elsewhere, M\u00e9\u00eft\u00e9\u2019s equaliser was later cancelled out by a 77th-minute Mourad Batna penalty, in a match that saw fans commemorate him for surpassing 100 goal contributions with Al-Fateh.
\nBatna had earlier missed from the spot to the frustation of the home fans, but Al-Fateh\u2019s undefeated streak against Damac at home remains intact as the encounter ended 1-1. Saudi Pro League action resumes on Friday, with Al-Hazem hosting Al-Ettifaq, Al-Ittihad welcoming Al-Khaleej, and one of Riyadh\u2019s top derbies in Al-Shabab and Al-Hilal. All games kick-off at 10:00pm, in the league\u2019s unified Ramadan schedule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIYADH Matchday 24 of the Saudi Pro League kicked off on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the conclusion of the delayed Matchday 10. With the FIFA Arab Cup, World Cup Qualifiers and FIFA World Cup sandwiching the 2025\/26 campaign, resting periods have been few and far between outside the international breaks. With fixtures coming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-533903","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n