Saudi Premier League, Arabia: Ronaldo dry, equal to Al Nassr

Jeddah turns green. Two years after the last time, the derby between Al Ittihad and Al Ahli returns in the splendid setting of the 60,000 crowd at King Abdullah Sports. It was a flying strike from Franck Kessié (fourth goal of the championship) on the half hour mark that decided the contest and brought Ah Ahli back to winning ways after two games of abstinence. Benzema falls, returning from injury but still a distant relative of the player admired over the years in Madrid. The Frenchman also scores the 1-1, but VAR punishes a foul by Coronado and denies everything. The ninth day of the Saudi Pro League also saw Cristiano Ronaldo on the field, mocked by Tatarusanu’s Abha Club who forced Al Nassr to draw 2-2 in the final.

At Nassr-Abha Club 2-2

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The people of Riyadh pay tribute to Marcelo Brozovic with a choreographic “boom”, in reference to his particular tattoo on his neck, a bomb. Even if the match, overall, is far from explosive. Ronaldo remains without goals after six consecutive matches in which he scored. However, he still had a hand in Otavio’s goal after 3 minutes: a spatial heel freeing Brozovic, the ball in tow for the former Porto player who sealed the game. Abha Club plays from the start, relying on the experience of former Lyon player Toko Ekambi, who is almost always well contained by Laporte. The usual Talisca made it 2-0 just before the half hour mark, already giving him the illusion of three points. From that moment on, Al Nassr almost disappeared from the match and gave their opponents courage, who first reopened the match with a penalty with Bguir in the 36th minute and then equalized it in the 92nd minute with Toko Ekambi, who alone invents a right-footed shot from outside area. Tatarusanu’s Abha is back to breathing after 4 knockouts in a row, two points disappear for Ronaldo and his teammates: Al Nassr remains third at 19.

Al Ittihad-Al Ahli 0-1

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The yellow and blacks find Benzema in the attacking tandem with Hamdallah. In Al Ahli the only absentee is Demiral. For the rest, all the stars are in: from Mahrez to Gabri Veiga, from Fabinho and Kante to Kessiè and Firmino. An infinite Jeddah derby, considering that the game ended up in the 105th minute. In between, lots of competitive spirit and just as much tactics, with the two teams respecting each other. Ready and ready, the two former Italians Kessié and Luiz Felipe go head-to-head. The Ivorian is the one who gets the worst of it, dazed and bleeding from the forehead. The bad incident did not affect his performance, on the contrary, it reinvigorated it because in the 31st minute he opened the derby with a left-handed volley into the corner. Benzema is not at his best and it shows, despite the goal being disallowed with twenty to go. Kante and Fabinho are uninspired, while Mahrez is the protagonist of some delightful plays. Overall, Al Ittihad kept the ball but created little or nothing, unlike the sumptuous defense of their fellow city rivals. With this victory the newly promoted Al Ahli rises to 19 points, catching Al Nassr in third and the yellow and blacks in fourth.