"Al Nassr game was shock therapy for everybody"

In another round of Roshn Saudi League drama, Al Hilal continued their march towards the title with a 4-1 win over Al Khaleej, while Al Nassr left it late to secure a 1-0 victory at Damac.

Elsewhere, Abha secured a vital three points in their fight to avoid relegation with a 2-1 win over Al Fateh, which saw them move out of the relegation zone. Elsewhere, bottom club Al Hazem’s plight was worsened by a 2-0 loss to Al Raed.

This is what the stars of the show were saying after another gripping round of action.

Al Hilal’s winning streak continued with a 4-1 win over Al Khaleej in Saihat. While there was no clean sheet, Yassine Bono was still delighted with the win. The Moroccan spoke about the challenge of competing across multiple competitions ahead of a month in which the RSL leaders will also play in the Saudi Super Cup and AFC Champions League.

“The team is doing a great job in all the games, and we are happy and hope we can give more in the next games. Al Hilal is a big club and we know how to manage situations like this, when you play a lot of games in different competitions. The best way is everybody has to give the best of themselves and everything will be good.”

Al Taawoun kept in touch with the top four after securing a 0-0 draw in Jeddah against Al Ittihad, with Mailson the hero between the sticks by saving Abderrazak Hamdallah’s penalty. Midfielder Aschraf El Mahdioui spoke after the game about the result.

“It was a very difficult game, difficult circumstances. We’re not used to playing in this kind of weather. We had some good parts in the game, and we had some more difficult parts, but at the end we can be satisfied with the draw.”

Al Nassr continued their incredible season with a vital 1-0 win at Damac thanks to a 91st-minute header from Aymeric Laporte. The defender busted out the moves in celebration, sharing it for all to see on Instagram.

“YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS 🙅🏻🕺🏻 @alnassr 💛🔥”

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Al Ettifaq returned to winning ways with an important 1-0 victory over Al Riyadh, which moved Steven Gerrard’s team up into sixth in the standings. Karl Toko Ekambi scored the only goal of the game and was delighted to deliver a crucial three points to his side.

“It feels good after this win. We are happy with the victory because we needed it. We worked hard in these last days, three matches in a row, but we’re happy after winning tonight. I knew at the beginning of the match that we had to provide more depth to be able to get in behind this block, so I called for it.

"Unfortunately, the ball was a little behind me, but I managed to pull it back then hit it with my left foot. I struck it hard, the goalkeeper touched the ball, but it went in and I’m very happy - it was a nice goal.”

Al Ahli dominated all the statistics against Al Wehda, but couldn’t turn their dominance into three points, having to settle for a 1-1 draw after Roger Ibanez’s late equaliser. Nevertheless, manager Matthias Jaissle was happy with his team’s performance.

“It was a tough match as expected after the victory in the derby - [to back up] a couple of days later to be ready to beat Al Wehda, a team who is always quite compact. But we started well, I was really happy. We missed our opportunity to finish the match in the first half; we had many chances. In the end we take the draw, even though we would love to win, and that was our expectation.”

Abha secured an invaluable three points against Al Fateh to move them out of the relegation zone for the first time since November, and just days after a big 8-0 loss to Al Nassr. It was a defeat, said midfielder Uros Matic, that jolted the players into action.

“The game against Al Nassr was not realistic. It was shock therapy for the players, for everybody, and of course we are happy that finally after a long time we are out of the [relegation] zone, so we want to continue like this. We have seven more games, and we want to keep the club in the league.”

Fashion Sakala continued his impressive season with another two goals for Al Fayha in their 3-0 win over Al Okhdood.

“GOD BLESS 🙏🏿

Great team performance and beautiful victory for our fans 💪🏿

2 Goals 🥅 and 1 assist ✔️

Man of the match 🏆

FS10 DREAMS DON’T DIE💪🏿

Read: Exodus 14:14🙏🏿

Thank you so much for your support ❤️💙🤍🙏🏿”

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