It appears Jhon Duran is as ice-cool in front of the mic as he is in front of goal.
Asked on Thursday in the aftermath in Jeddah to describe his goal-of-the-season contender that secured Al Nassr’s incredible victory at Al Ahli, the still-new addition to the Roshn Saudi League simply shrugged.
“Normal," Duran replied. "I am working for this. It’s my job; I have to keep doing it all the time. Happy for the goal - and I hope more will come.”
Admittedly, it will take some doing to add more of similar quality to that winner at the packed Alinma Stadium. Having already opened the scoring for the visitors – Duran's third RSL goal in two matches since signing last month from England's Aston Villa – he was clearly saving his best for last.
With two minutes of normal time remaining and Al Nassr 2-1 up, Duran collected a Marcelo Brozovic pass from just inside the Al Ahli half before evading two rival defenders and outpacing the home defence. From there, he finished beautifully past opposition goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
The strike was promptly voted BSF Goal of the Week for Matchweek 20.
Eventually it decided the high-profile clash - Al Nassr prevailed 3-2 - keeping the Riyadh club third in the standings but lifting them even deeper into the title race. They concluded the round four points off second-placed Al Hilal, the reigning champions, and eight back from current leaders Al Ittihad.
Riding a five-match win streak in the RSL, Al Nassr’s title challenge is growing stronger by the week. Not that, true to apparent character, Duran would be drawn too much on it.
“Step-by-step," he said. "We have to say nothing; we just have to keep working. We hope we can do it in the remaining games.”
Still, triumphing in one of the league’s standout matches, did send out a rather emphatic statement.
“You have to win the classics and that’s what we did,” Duran said, again matter-of-factly. “We have to keep working. We are a group of warriors, and we work for this reason.”
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