Ivan Toney was the hero as Al-Ahli kicked off the new Saudi Pro League season on Thursday with a hard-fought 1-0 home win over newly promoted Neom. The England striker’s first-half goal was enough to give the reigning Asian champions all three points.
It was a tough introduction to the top flight for Neom, as the hosts enjoyed the better of the first half. More 50,000 fans seemed to shout as one for a penalty in the ninth minute when Ali Majrashi went down in the area under a challenge from Mohammed Al-Dossari, but the referee was having none of it and waved play on.
The home fans did not have to wait too much longer for the opener, however, as Toney delivered a fine goal midway through the first half. Enzo Millot, making his league debut after a move from Stuttgart, slid through a majestic pass from deep that split the visiting defense and gave the former Brentford forward the chance to fire a low shot home from just inside the area.
Eight minutes before the break, there was more good work from the French midfielder when he found Riyad Mahrez in the area, but the Algerian sent his shot wide. Soon after, Toney had a goal-bound shot blocked by Ahmed Hegazi.
Neom looked livelier after the restart and Alexandre Lacazette was able to break into the area, only for his low shot to be saved by Edouard Mendy. The former Chelsea goalkeeper was in action again soon after, getting down well to save a dangerous effort on the turn by Abdulmalik Al-Oyayari.
The visitors continued to pile on the pressure in hopes of a share of the points. Lacazette did have the ball in the net in the 90th minute, but it was ruled out for offside and Al-Ahli hung on for the win.
There were two other games on opening day. Ettifaq defeated Al-Kholood 2-1, with Mohau Nkota and Gini Wijnaldum the scorers for the victors, while John Buckley got the visitors’ goal.
Earlier, the first game of the season ended in a 1-1 draw between Damac and Al-Hazm. Fabio Martins fired home from the spot to give the visitors the lead shortly before the hour mark, but they were denied the three points when Moroccan Jamal Harkass grabbed the equalizer with 98 minutes on the clock.
