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Leaders of the Saudi Pro League Al-Nassr suffered their first league defeat of the season when they lost 3-2 to Al-Ahli in Jeddah on Friday.
England and former Brentford striker Ivan Toney scored a brace to give the hosts a two-goal advantage before Abdulelah Al-Amri bagged a brace to bring the score level before half-time.
Merih Demiral then headed in what proved to be the winner shortly after the break in a match that saw both teams reduced to 10 players late in the match, as Al-Ahli held on to all three points and strengthened their grip on fourth place.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr remain in the lead, but the result opens the door for second-placed Al-Hilal to leapfrog them in the standings with victory over strugglers Damac on Sunday.
Toney gives hosts perfect start but Al-Nassr hits back
It was a near-perfect start for the hosts, who found themselves without several key players due to the AFCON. In the first minute of the match, Toney rounded Saad Al-Nasser before sliding into Galeno.
Nawaf Al-Aqidi in the Al-Nassr goal saved the first effort, then Matheus Goncalves’ follow-up rattled the crossbar.
The championship leaders were lucky to escape unscathed. But Al-Ahli’s initial assaults showed little sign of hesitation. Just over five minutes later, it paid off when Galeno returned the favor with a low ball across the box to Toney’s feet.
The former Brentford player made no mistake from six yards out, firing over to give the hosts a deserved lead.
Ali Majrashi then squandered another glorious chance before Toney doubled his and Al-Ahli’s tally when he latched onto an overhand ball before finishing confidently.
Al-Nassr were handed a lifeline in the 31st minute when Amri’s long-range effort went through the legs of Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi to halve the deficit in embarrassing fashion for the Al-Ahli goalscorer.
The visitors suddenly sniffed a way back into the match and equalized just before half-time thanks to Al-Amri’s header from Marcelo Brozovic’s outgoing corner.
In a frantic end to the first 45 minutes, Toney then had the chance to score a hat-trick in added time but his finish, from an almost identical position to the opening goal, struck the wrong side of the post.
Al-Ahli wins throughout the second half
The second half picks up where the first left off. Less than 10 minutes after the break, Al-Ahli regained the lead when Toney’s touchdown on goal from a Goncalves free kick was nodded in by Demiral.
Ronaldo wasted a good chance just after the hour mark when his touch on a precise pass from Joao Felix dropped him in the box as Al-Nassr once again went in search of an equalizer.
A deflected shot from Joao Felix rippled the side-netting late on, but the visitors could not find a way to preserve their unbeaten run.
Tempers flared in stoppage time, with Majrashi giving the order to slap Joao Felix before Nawaf Boushal saw red for a foul as the last man.
