JEDDAH: Al-Ahli defeated Al-Qadsiah 2-1 on Friday night in Jeddah in the ninth round of the Saudi Pro League, despite playing the entire second half a man down.
The home team took the lead in the sixth minute through their Brazilian winger Galeno, who was returning to the starting lineup after recovering from injury. Al-Ahli’s celebrations, however, turned to concern when midfielder Ziyad Al-Johani received a straight red card in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time following a clash with Al-Qadsiah's Portuguese midfielder Otavio.
In the 64th minute, substitute Abdullah Al-Salem equalized for Al-Qadsiah with his first touch after coming on for left-back Yasser Al-Shahrani.
Despite the disadvantage, the home side secured the victory with a goal from Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie in the 66th minute.
The win sees Al-Ahli leapfrog their rivals in the SPL standings, reaching fourth place with 19 points, while Al-Qadsiah dropped to fifth with 17 points.
Earlier in the day, reigning champions Al-Ittihad beat visitors Al-Riyadh 2-1 after also ended the match with 10 men.
Karim Benzema gave the home team the lead on 24 minutes before Mohammed Al-Khaibari added the second just before halftime. Moussa Diaby’s straight red card on 73 minutes gave the visitors a glimmer of hope and they duly halved the deficit four minutes later through Mamadou Sylla.
Al-Ittihad, however, managed to hold on to claim a win that sees them climb to seventh in the table with 14 points. Al-Riyadh drop to 13th with six points.
In Friday’s other match, visitors Al-Hazem — technically the away team despite playing in their own stadium — beat Al-Kholood 2-1 in the Ar Rass derby.
