Al Qadsiah return with a bang, Firmino scores for Al Ahli

Damac 0-1 Al Khaleej

The first away victory of the 2024-25 season came down south in Khamis Mushait where a Dhari Al Enezi own goal gifted visitors Al Khaleej the three points at Damac Club Stadium in the early kick-off on Friday.

Greek coach Georgios Donis made his debut for a fourth RSL club in the Al Khaleej dugout, having previously led Al Hilal, Al Fateh and Al Wehda, and it was only the second time after his 2-0 win over Najran in 2014-15 that the former Blackburn Rovers player won his first RSL game in charge of a club.

The winning goal followed a quick passing move which saw captain Fabio Martins feed his fellow Portuguese Pedro Rebocho down the left and the full-back’s whipped low cross passed a few players before hitting the unprepared Al Enezi at the far post, the Damac man watched the ball go into the back of his own net before he could adjust his body.

A revelation in his debut season with Damac last term, Georges Kevin N’Koudou celebrated opening his account for 2024-25 but his joy was cut short as the flag had gone up with the Cameroonian having stepped offside. 

Al Ahli 2-0 Al Orobah

Al Orobah gave a good account of themselves upon their return to the Roshn Saudi League for the first time in a dacade, but it was ultimately last season’s third-placed Al Ahli who walked away with the three points at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah on Friday night.

The hosts thought they had taken the league just before the half-hour mark when Riyad Mahrez’s inviting cross from the right was met with a thumping header from Gabri Veiga, but the Spanish midfielder watched the ball cannon off the crossbar and back into play.

Minutes later, they did move in front and once more it was the Algerian magician Mahrez behind the move. The former Manchester City man fed Franck Kessie inside the box and the latter drilled an effort that was parried away by goalkeeper Gaetan Coucke, but only as far as young forward Abdulkarim Darisi, the 21-year-old homegrown talent was left with a simple tap-in for his maiden senior goal in his ninth RSL appearance for Al Ahli.

Coach Matthias Jaissle’s men came racing out of the blocks for the second half and within two minutes of the restart Mahrez had found Ziyad Al Johani who squared for Roberto Firmino to sweep home, but after a lengthy review, the semi-automated offside technology identified Mahrez had strayed past the defender and into an offside position in the build-up with the goal being ruled out.

Firmino would, however, not be denied finding the back of the net on the opening match for the second season running. The Brazilian got on the end of a Kessie cross after a similar routine to double Al Ahli’s lead and put the three points beyond doubt in the 81st minute. A strong start for Al Ahli in front of 20,214 home fans.

Al Qadsiah 3-0 Al Fateh

Over on the east coast, there were mass celebrations as Al Qadsiah marked their return to the top division with an emphatic 3-0 victory at home against Al Fateh, with new signing Julian Quinones stealing the headlines.

The revamped side led by former Real Madrid legend Michel on the dugout and another Los Blancos man Nacho with the armband, showed they mean business even in the absence of suspended forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who had accumulated bookings from the end of his time in Ligue 1 with Olympique Marseille.

Just after the 30-minute mark, Hussein Al Qahtani recovered the ball from Lucas Zelarayan before feeding Turki Al Ammar down the right and the former wonderkid crossed for Quinones. The Mexican forward expertly controlled and rifled on the turn for his first RSL goal.

Saif Rashad came off the bench midway through the second half and made an immediate impact. The winger embarked on a solo run before exchanging passes with Quinones and drilling a shot that Al Fateh’s new goalkeeper Peter Szappanos could only push as far as the onrushing Abdulaziz Al Othman who buried it home for 2-0.

Just before the final whistle was sounded, Rashad fed exciting young right-back Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and the 22-year-old sent a delicious cross which Quinones duly headed into the back of the net for his second of the night, signing off on a stellar win for the Al Khobar based side.