Friday night in Jeddah was exactly what a derby should be. Noise, tension, quality in unexpected moments, and a scoreline that told you everything about where these two clubs currently stand in the Saudi Pro League without leaving much room for argument. Al Ahli beat Al Ittihad 3-1 at the King Abdullah Sports City in a match that had genuine drama packed into almost every quarter-hour of football, and the result pushes the home side further clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League standings while leaving Ittihad to reflect on a performance that showed real intent but ultimately punished every defensive lapse they allowed themselves. This was, without exaggeration, the biggest club match in Saudi Arabia on this particular Friday night, and Al Ahli rose to the occasion with the authority of a side that genuinely believes they are about to win a title.
The atmosphere inside King Abdullah Sports City from well before kick-off reflected everything the Jeddah derby represents. Two clubs separated by history, by neighbourhood loyalty, by decades of rivalry that carries the weight of the city itself on both sides. The away end held a substantial Ittihad contingent who had made the short journey across Jeddah with obvious conviction that Marcel Gallardo’s side — who had arrived on the back of four consecutive unbeaten league matches — were capable of derailing Al Ahli’s title charge at the most impactful possible moment. Everything about the buildup suggested a match that would test Al Ahli’s composure as much as their quality. The opening exchanges suggested Ittihad had arrived ready to do exactly that.
Gallardo sent his side out in their 4-3-3 with Predrag Rajković in goal behind a back four of Sharahili, Hassan Kadesh, Danilo Pereira and Shanqeeti. The midfield three of Aouar, Doumbia and Fabinho carried the bulk of the creative and defensive responsibility in what was essentially a box-to-box unit asked to control the middle of the pitch and limit Al Ahli’s ability to play through the lines. Bergwijn and the quicksilver Moussa Diaby flanked Youssef En-Nesyri at the top of the attack, and the pace that combination carried gave Édouard Mendy’s defensive line real problems in the early going. Diaby in particular made three runs in the first 12 minutes that required sharp tracking and considerable concentration from Roger Ibañez and the Al Hawsawi partnership behind him.
Al Ahli’s starting eleven, confirmed well in advance without any injury concerns on either side, had an almost embarrassing amount of talent spread across every line. Mendy behind a back four of Majrashi, Ibañez, the young Hamidou and Al Hawsawi. Atangana anchoring the midfield with Kessié and Aljohani either side of him. Galeno and Mahrez wide with Ivan Toney as the central striker, a front three whose combined market value would have made most clubs in the world envious. And yet, for all that quality on paper, the first 20 minutes were genuinely competitive — an even match where both sides were finding their feet and Ittihad’s pressing was making the home side uncomfortable enough to keep the crowd anxious rather than relaxed.
The first goal changed everything. Ivan Toney, whose form for Al Ahli across this season had been the subject of enormous amounts of discussion in English football given that he was the same striker who had been considered one of the Premier League’s best just 18 months before this evening, scored with a header in the 23rd minute that was as emphatic as any goal you will see at this level of the game. Galeno delivered a cross from the left that found Toney positioned perfectly between Kadesh and Danilo Pereira, and the England international rose above both, timed his leap with complete precision, and powered the ball past Rajković with his forehead. The heading technique was textbook. The timing was brilliant. The Ahli end of King Abdullah Sports City went to a level of noise the ground had not reached since their last home derby, and Toney ran toward that corner with his arms spread wide and a composure that suggested scoring goals of this quality in matches of this magnitude was simply what he does now.
What followed in the next 25 minutes was the kind of football that the Saudi Pro League’s enormous investment in players has been promising to deliver more consistently. Ittihad did not collapse after conceding. They pushed back with real organisation and real belief, and it was Diaby and En-Nesyri who carried the bulk of that threat. En-Nesyri, who had scored 12 Saudi Pro League goals before this match and was one of the most dangerous strikers in the division on his day, had a powerful header in the 38th minute that Mendy dealt with well — a low, athletic save to his right that was better than it probably looked from the stands. Fabinho controlled the tempo of the Ittihad midfield with the unhurried authority of someone who has been playing at the highest level for so long that nothing in the situation feels outside his experience, and Aouar’s creativity in those middle spaces kept Al Ahli’s defenders honest throughout. Halftime arrived with Al Ahli 1-0 ahead, the lead feeling smaller than the balance of the half suggested it should be given the quality of the two attacks.
The second half’s opening minutes produced the match’s most extraordinary sequence of events in the space of eight minutes. Fabinho stepped up to convert an Ittihad penalty in the 51st minute — awarded after Hamidou brought down En-Nesyri inside the area in a challenge that referee Nikola Dabanovic had no hesitation flagging — and sent the penalty low to Mendy’s right, the Senegalese goalkeeper unable to reach it. Ittihad had equalised, the away end erupted, and for a short but real period of time the Jeddah derby felt like it was about to tilt decisively in the visitors’ favour. Momentum in football is a tangible thing, and the momentum after that penalty was all on Ittihad’s side.
Eight minutes later, Riyad Mahrez made it irrelevant. The Algerian winger, who has operated through Al Ahli’s season at a level of consistent quality that has made any suggestion he was winding down his career feel frankly absurd, picked up the ball on the right side of the Ittihad penalty area and drove a curling, left-footed shot across Rajković into the far corner. It was the kind of goal that only a certain type of technically gifted player even attempts in a derby at 1-1, let alone converts. The curve on the ball was perfect, the placement was precise, and Rajković’s dive — the right direction, the right height — simply couldn’t get close enough to it. Mahrez barely celebrated in the way that players sometimes do when they score goals that matter this much. He jogged back to the halfway line with the calm of someone who had been scoring goals of that quality for so long that he had almost forgotten how difficult they are. Al Ahli were 2-1 ahead, the stadium was in full voice again, and the match had found its decisive moment.
Ittihad tried to respond. Gallardo made changes, sending on fresh legs in midfield and asking his side to push higher. There were moments in the 65th and 70th minute range where the ball was in dangerous positions around Al Ahli’s penalty area and Mendy had to be sharp on two occasions where crosses from deep were met by Ittihad runners arriving late. But Al Ahli’s defensive shape held, their experienced players managed the match intelligently rather than inviting pressure by dropping too deep, and when the third goal came in the 84th minute through the young Saudi forward Feras Al-Brikan — a substitute who had come on for Toney and converted with impressive confidence after a quick counter-attack — it settled any remaining doubt about the evening’s result. Three-one. Six minutes to manage. Derby won.
For those following the Saudi Pro League title race live as it approaches its final weeks, including all the results that matter across the division as Al Ahli look to hold onto first place, you can watch live Saudi Pro League action and track real-time match scores here on fawanews.org.uk and stay connected to every development in one of the world’s most competitive domestic leagues right now.
The statistical picture from the match confirms the general shape of the evening. Al Ahli had 45.6 percent possession to Ittihad’s 54.4 — the home side were content, at various stages, to allow Ittihad to have the ball and look to hurt them on the counter and through individual quality. Five shots on goal for Al Ahli to Ittihad’s two. Twelve total attempts to eight. The shots-on-goal differential in Al Ahli’s favour reflects the clinical edge they carried in front of goal — three shots on target, three goals, a conversion rate that no side in any division can prepare for without genuine concern. Ittihad’s possession numbers flatter them considerably. Having 54 percent of the ball and managing two shots on target in a derby means the possession was decorative rather than genuinely threatening. Mendy made one save across the entire match that mattered outside the penalty; Rajković made two. Those two goalkeeping records say everything about how the match was won.
The result moves Al Ahli to 62 points from 25 matches — a record of 19 wins, five draws and just one defeat that represents one of the most impressive seasons any Saudi Pro League club has produced in the modern era of the competition. The gap at the top of the table is now significant, with Al Hilal the likely closest challengers heading into the final rounds of the season. For context, Al Ahli’s only defeat all season was their opening-day loss, and they have not dropped points at home since then. The King Abdullah Sports City has become a fortress that feels almost impenetrable when this squad is fully fit, and Friday’s derby was the most complete demonstration of that in the most emotionally charged fixture the Saudi calendar offers.
Ittihad drop back from fifth with a record of 12 wins, six draws and seven defeats on 42 points — a season that has had genuine quality in it but has been punctured by moments where their defensive structure has let down an attacking unit capable of hurting any team in the division. En-Nesyri, Diaby, Bergwijn and the controlling influence of Fabinho should be producing more points than the table reflects. Gallardo will know that, and the losses against direct rivals — of which Friday’s was the most costly — are the detail he will want addressed heading into the final stretch.
Al Ahli’s next fixture sees them face Al Qadsiah, while Ittihad travel to face Al Riyadh. The official Saudi Pro League website has full updated standings and upcoming fixture dates as the title race builds to what promises to be a compelling conclusion.
For complete coverage of all Saudi Pro League results and European football action through March and April, make sure you follow live football scores and match updates on fawanews.org.uk as the season moves into its most decisive phase.
