Al-Ahli Saudi Arabia put five past Al-Riyad in the Pro-League Regular Season round five at Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium on Thursday. The hosts ran riot from the first quarter-hour, converting two penalties and adding three more goals to end a string of poor results. Ivan Toney scored twice from the spot, while Eduard Spertsyan and Francisco Trincão added regular goals before an own goal from Naif Masoud Khalid sealed the rout.
The decisive moment came early, when a penalty was awarded after 13 minutes following a VAR review. Toney stepped up and made no mistake at 16 minutes, slotting home to give Al-Ahli the lead. Spertsyan doubled the advantage just before the break at 43 minutes, and Trincão added a third at 45+2 minutes. Al-Riyad looked shell-shocked, making a substitution at the interval with Fahad Mohammed Al-Jayzani coming off.
And here's the thing — the second half brought another penalty, this time to Artem Bondarenko at 57 minutes after a VAR check. Toney converted again at 61 minutes to make it four, and by then the game was well and truly over. Naif Masoud Khalid's own goal at 87 minutes added a fifth, and Al-Ahli saw out the remaining quarter-hour without further incident, though they did make three substitutions at 75 minutes to rest their key men.
The statistics tell you everything about how one-sided this was. Al-Ahli held 56 per cent possession and created six big chances with an expected goals total of 3.31. They registered eight shots on target and two off target. Al-Riyad managed just one shot on target with four off target, created zero big chances, and had an xG of 0.77. We had tipped a home win at 52 per cent confidence, and the result confirms that Al-Ahli still have fight in them despite recent defeats.
Al-Ahli sit eighth with six points from four games, while Al-Riyad remain twelfth with four points from the same number of matches. The win ended Al-Ahli's three-game winless run but does nothing to close the gap on the teams above them. Al-Riyad's struggles continue, and they now face a difficult run if they want to climb away from the bottom half.
