DUBAI: Al-Nassr had another scare on Friday night when they once again fell behind, before pulling off a 2-1 comeback win against Al-Taawoun at Al-Awwal Park to maintain their 100 percent start to the Saudi Pro League season.
The reigning champions top the table with the maximum 12 points from four matches, while Riyadh rivals Al-Hilal, who enjoyed a comfortable 5-1 away victory over Al-Khaleej, sit in second place on nine points after three games.
Al-Nassr’s fans were silenced in the 11th minute when Bassam Al-Hurayji reacted quickest to tap home the rebound from close range after a Mohammed Al-Aqel shot was deflected by goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi onto the crossbar.
It took until first-half stoppage time for the home side to restore parity, when a Sadio Mane layoff was struck first time by Samu Costa from outside the penalty area past the goalkeeper, Mailson. The unrestrained reaction from the goalscorer, and the home fans, told its own story: relief all round.
There was perhaps a sense of inevitability about Al-Nassr’s second, which arrived five minutes after the restart. A Mohammed Simakan shot appeared goal bound before Cristiano Ronaldo made sure by diverting it into the roof of the net from close range.
Coach Ange Postecoglou’s comeback kids, who overcame a two-goal deficit to beat Al-Ettifaq 3-2 on Tuesday (with 10 men), had done it again.
While Al-Nassr toiled somewhat to get the job done at home, Al-Hilal’s away win at Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam was rarely in doubt. French forward Mohammed Meite gave the blues the lead after only 15 minutes with a delicate glancing header, before Segej Milinkovic-Savic, who had provided the assist for the opener, doubled the lead just before the half-hour mark.
Al-Khaleej pulled one back on 38 minutes, but Saleh Al-Amri’s goal only succeeded in provoking Al-Hilal into a devastating end to the half. Theo Hernandez restored the two-goal margin on 40 minutes with a trademark left-foot finish, before Crysencio Summerville brilliantly darted between two defenders three minutes later to score his first league goal for Al-Hilal since joining from West Ham in the summer. Sultan Mandash made it 5-1 in stoppage time, and the game was effectively over as a contest before the break.
On a stiflingly warm night in Dammam, it was no surprise that the tempo dropped considerably in the second half. Musa Barrow missed a 67th-minute penalty for Al-Khaleej but there was little else that might have added to the scoreline. Coach Simone Inzaghi will have been delighted with a four-goal lead that allowed him to make several strategic substitutions in the closing stages of the match.
Earlier, Al-Riyadh beat visiting Neom 1-0, courtesy of a Teddy Okou goal just after the hour mark. The victory moved the capital club into 12th place in the table, with four points from four matches, while Neom are seventh with six from four.
Al-Fayha claimed their first win of the season after overcoming bottom-of-the-table Abha with a 3-2 home victory. After taking only one point from their first three matches, the result pushed them up the table into 11th place, above Al-Riyadh on goal difference.
