Al Khaleej 1-0 Al Kholood
Coach Georgios Donis’ Al Khaleej picked up their first win since the opening Roshn Saudi League weekend as they overcame Al Kholood 1-0 on Friday thanks to Abdullah Al Salem’s 66th-minute strike in Dammam.
Hosting the day's early kick-off, Al Khaleej had collected only one point from their past four matches but bounced back after a solid display at home. The home crowd thought their team had the lead on 25 minutes, when Konstantinos Fortounis’ corner was headed by Khaled Narey, only for the Togolese forward to be denied by a flying save from Marcelo Grohe.
The two players then swapped roles, with Narey crossing from the right late in the first half and Fortounis hitting the ball on the half-volley from outside the Al Kholood penalty area, only to be denied by another spectacular Grohe save.
There wasn’t much the former Al Ittihad goalkeeper could do when, in the 66th minute, Al Khaleej captain Fabio Martins intelligently found the overlapping Pedro Rebocho and the left-back drilled a low cross that was swept home by Al Salem for what would prove to be the winner.
Martins thought he had doubled his side’s lead minutes later when he cut inside and drilled from close range into the back of the net, but his goal was ruled out with Narey being flagged offside in the build-up.
The win takes Al Khaleej past their opponents and out of the drop zone, with a tough encounter against Al Ahli up next, while Al Kholood remain on four points in 16th place. They take on current bottom side Al Fateh next, after the international break.
Al Riyadh 2-1 Al Qadsiah
Iraqi winger Ibrahim Bayesh continued his impressive start to the season as his Al Riyadh side stunned Al Qadsiah 2-1 at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City on Friday evening.
The capital club had narrowly escaped relegation last season, winning only eight games all campaign, but are already on three wins from their opening six matches this time around thanks to a complete overhaul in the summer.
Al Qadsiah arrived to Riyadh buoyed by their success in the previous match when they downed Al Ahli 1-0 thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s penalty. However, despite a bright start in this Matchweek 6 clash, they found themselves behind in the 24th minute.
Central midfielder Lucas Kal, a summer arrival from Brazilian side Atletico Goianiense, got his team up and running after being set up by playmaker Toze to drill a shot from the edge of the area, marking his second goal of the campaign. It was only the second concession by new Al Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels this season.
Al Riyadh doubled their advantage just before the hour mark. Once more it was Toze’s creativity behind the goal, as the former Al Hazem man delivered a corner that was met by a towering header from defender Yoan Barbet. The Frenchman’s attempt was pushed over the line by a simple Bayesh tap-in from point blank to make it 2-0.
The visitors looked to stage a late comeback, but Abdulaziz Al Othman’s finish after a fine through ball from Turki Al Ammar in with 12 minutes remaining proved too little too late, and the home team walked away with a valuable three points.
The result means coach Sabri Lamouchi’s men joined their Friday opponents on 10 points for the 2024-25 campaign, and thus break into the top six.
Damac 1-0 Al Shabab
Georges-Kevin N’Koudou’s third goal of the RSL season helped Damac return to winning ways after they defeated Al Shabab 1-0 in the last of Friday’s three games.
Senegal international forward Habib Diallo had a golden opportunity to score against his former club when he broke free and rounded Al Shabab goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu, but he was denied by a heroic block from defender Nader Al Sharari. Kim displayed his best qualities again, denying Nicolae Stanciu on multiple occasions to see out the first half with a clean sheet.
For all his excellence in the first half, the Korea Republic international was left red-faced when he allowed N’Koudou’s tame shot through his hands after the Cameroonian exchanged passes with Diallo and tried his luck from inside the box through a forest of legs.
N'Koudou's goal wrapped up the three points for Damac ⚽#RoshnSaudiLeague #DAMSHA pic.twitter.com/8fjThzJbnA
— Roshn Saudi League (@SPL_EN) October 4, 2024
The near-capacity crowd at Damac Club Stadium did then think their side had been pegged back when Cristian Guanca curled a free-kick from 20 yards over the wall and towards the top corner. Yet, to the relief of the Khamis Mushait fans, the ball ended up on the wrong side of the netting.
Damac’s second win of the season provides breathing space for coach Cosmin Contra before the international break, while Al Shabab miss out on the chance of going level on points with leaders Al Hilal and runners-up Al Ittihad; they stay third with 12 points.
