DUBAI: Al-Ahli came from three goals down on Friday night to pull off a scarcely believable 3-3 draw with visiting Al-Hilal at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, in what was surely one of the most remarkable matches in the history of the Saudi Pro League.
The result left the Jeddah crowd wildly celebrating rescuing a point they could only have dreamed of at the break, while the away fans were left ruing the failure to grab all three points, which would have seen their team go to the top of the table, albeit with Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad, both of whom have a 100 percent record after two games, set to play Al-Riyadh and Al-Najma respectively on Saturday.
Instead, Al-Hilal sit seventh in the league with five points from three matches, and Al-Ahli in eighth place with the same number of points but a slightly inferior goal difference.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 12th minute courtesy of left-back Theo Hernandez, who raced onto an outstanding pass from Malcom and fired a fine strike into the roof of Edouard Mendy’s net.
Coach Simone Inzaghi’s delight doubled on the 24-minute mark when the excellent Darwin Nunez ended a powerful run into Al-Ahli’s penalty area with a cross for Malcolm, who tapped the ball into a gaping net.
The home fans, who had welcomed coach Matthias Jaissle with an iconic tifo display at the start of the match, were in shock. The 2024-25 AFC Champions League winners were on the ropes and things got even worse for them in the 41st minute.
A raking pass out of defense by Kalidou Koulibaly found Salem Al-Dawsari with acres of space on the left wing and he in turn squared a precise pass to Malcolm, whose brilliant left-foot strike sailed past a motionless Mendy for the Brazilian’s second and Al-Hilal’s third.
Al-Ahli almost pulled one back just before the 45-minute mark, but Roger Ibanez’s stunning long-range shot was turned onto the bar by Yassine Bounou and out for corner.
Bounou was again called into action when he saved a firmly struck Riyad Mahrez free kick in the eighth minute of first-half stoppage time, ensuring Al-Hilal went into the break with a seemingly unassailable three-goal lead.
At the start of the second half, Jaissle replaced Ali Majrashi with Mohammed Abdulrahman on the right side of the defense, where all three of Al-Hilal’s goals had stemmed from.
There was a marked improvement in the home team after the break as they camped in their opponents’ half for the best part of 20 minutes, albeit without creating too many clear-cut chances. Indeed, Al-Hilal could have extended their lead in the 65th minute when, after more brilliant play from Nunez, Salem Al-Dawsari hit the post from a suspected offside position.
The match looked to be trudging toward the expected conclusion when a firm cross from the left by Firas Al-Buraikan was flicked home expertly by Ivan Toney after 78 minutes, giving the home fans a sliver of hope that a miraculous comeback might yet materialize.
If Ali-Ahli’s supporters were reawakened by the goal, the players were positively inspired, and with only three minutes of the 90 remaining, a wickedly curling ball from Mahrez was headed home superbly by Toney to reduce the deficit to only one.
And it was wiped out completely just four minutes later, when Merih Demiral met a Mahrez corner with a powerful header that left Bounou with no chance.
The by-now hysterical home crowd urged their comeback heroes to push for the goal that would have secured one of the greatest wins ever witnessed in the Pro League but it was not to be. Nonetheless, the final whistle must have left Jaissle brimming with pride in his players, and Inzaghi bristling with regret.
Earlier on Friday, Al-Qadsiah moved into second place in the table with a 2-1 home win over Al-Khaleej, while Al-Fayha were held to a goalless draw by visiting Al-Shabab.
