Al Hilal and Al Ittihad win in a night of broken records

History-making Mensah helps Al Tai edge relegation six-pointer

Al Tai boosted their hopes of extending their Roshn Saudi League stay for another season after defeating Al Hazem 1-0 at the Prince Abdulaziz bin Musaed Stadium on Friday.

The two sides went into the Matchweek 23 fixture with the knowledge that losing would complicate their situation in the battle at the bottom, with Al Hazem sitting at the foot of the table with 15 points, and Al Tai only three points above them.

It took the hosts just six minutes to score the goal that would end up deciding the match. Ghanaian forward Bernard Mensah was in the right position to pick up a deflected ball inside the box, before he rounded goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen and slotted home.

Mensah’s 11th goal of the campaign made him the highest-scoring player in a single RSL season for Al Tai, overtaking Amir Sayoud’s tally of 10 from the 2022-23 campaign. Mensah is now four goals behind Knowledge Musona in club’s all-time RSL scorer charts.

Everyone at the stadium, however, thought Al Hazem had drawn level five minutes into the second half, when Muhammed Badamosi outmuscled his marker and squared for Faiz Selemani at the far post. The Comoros international fired towards goal and looked set to celebrate, but watched in agony as defender Safwan Saud heroically threw his body on the line, denying the visitors an equaliser.

In the final minute, Al Tai were prevented a second goal after Dahmen’s misplaced pass was intercepted by Abdulrahman Al Harthi. Al Harthi then fed a through pass to Mensah, the Ghanaian advanced on goal and centred to Salman Al Muwashar, who tapped in from close range. Yet Mensah had strayed into an offside position and the goal was thus ruled off-side.

A vital 1-0 victory for the home side leaves them as the highest-ranked team in the drop zone, just two points behind a host of clubs including Al Raed, Al Riyadh and Al Okhdood. Al Hazem, meanwhile, remain rooted to the foot of the table, eight points from safety.

Neves stars as Al Hilal overcome Al Riyadh

Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves came off the bench to guide Al Hilal to a record-extending 16th successive win of the RSL season in the derby against Al Riyadh, the 3-1 victory stretching their lead at the top of the table to 12 points.

The RSL frontrunners fielded a rotated XI ahead of Tuesday's AFC Champions League quarter-final second leg against Al Ittihad, with the likes of Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic on the bench, and Salem Al Dawsari completely rested.

It could have been a straightforward night for Al Hilal at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City had Aleksandar Mitrovic’s 11th minute goal not been ruled out for an offside on Michael, while at the other end Al Riyadh also saw a goal chalked off with Abdulelah Al Khaibari stepping beyond the last defender before setting up Andre Gray.

As the first half looked set to end goalless, a VAR review confirmed Al Riyadh’s Khalid Al Shuwayyi had fouled Abdullah Al Hamdan inside the box. Mitrovic stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick, but was denied by a fine save from Martin Campana - the Uruguayan goalkeeper becoming the first goalkeeper in the season to save three penalties.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 52nd minute, and by Al Riyadh, when a Gray cross from the right took a wicked deflection off Ali Al Bulayhi and ended up in the back of Yassine Bounou’s net.

However, six minutes after coming on to replace Mohammed Kanno, Neves got on the scoresheet, converting a penalty awarded to Al Hilal following a foul from Mohammed Al Shwirekh on Mitrovic.

The former Porto and Wolverhampton Wanderers man then turned provider, setting up Michael with a curled cross towards the far post. The Brazilian headed home to turn the tie around with just 15 minutes left.

In the final minute, Al Shuwayyi was again at fault, bringing down Malcom inside the box, and Al Hilal were awarded a third penalty. Mitrovic stepped up to made amends from the spot to seal the victory, in the process reaching the 20-goal mark and leaving him only two goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for the Golden Boot.

Gallardo’s Al Ittihad return to winning ways

Marcelo Gallardo’s Al Ittihad climbed temporarily into the top four with a fourth victory in their past five RSL matches, bouncing back from the 3-1 Clasico defeat to Al Hilal last week to dispatch Al Okhdood 2-1 on Friday.

With key players including Karim Benzema, Fabinho and Abderrazzaq Hamdallah left out, and the likes of Ahmed Hegazi and Romarinho on the bench, a heavily rotated Al Ittihad got the job done thanks to two youngsters.

Defender Saad Al Mousa, who arrived from Al Ettifaq in the summer, opened the scoring in the closing minute of the first half with a tap-in after being teed up by Saleh Al Amri’s cross from the left.

Al Okhdood restored parity just after the hour mark, and did so in style. Former Real Betis playmaker Alex Collado rifled a left-footed shot from 25 yards into the top corner to level the game.

History, though, was made seven minutes from time when substitute Jota clipped a cross from the left for Talal Haji, who volleyed into the back of the net for the winner. At the age of 16 years and 175 days, Haji became the youngest goalscorer in RSL history.

The win takes Al Ittihad past the 40-point mark and into fourth, just one point ahead of Al Taawoun, who host third-placed Al Ahli on Saturday.