2023-10-27 21:35:22
Neither Mendy nor Riyad… the lead is in the grip of Al Hilal
Al-Hilal tightened its grip on the top spot in the Saudi Professional League, defeating its guest, Al-Ahly, by three goals to one, in a football evening filled with all kinds of excitement and witnessing a large crowd in the stands of King Fahd International Stadium in the capital, Riyadh, exceeding 50,000 fans.
Al-Hilal presented itself wonderfully at the top of the 11th round of the Saudi Professional League, and its guest, Al-Ahly, was not an easy opponent. Rather, it was close to returning to the match and adjusting the result more than once in a match that fulfilled all its promises.
Blue Capital reached the 29th point, continuing its presence at the top of the standings, on a night in which the Serbian Savic, who scored the first goal, shined, while Al-Ahly’s victories stopped and its score froze at 22 points.
The goals bore the mark of Savic and his compatriot Mitrovic, and Saint-Maximan for Al-Ahly, while the third goal for Al-Hilal came from an own goal by Ibanez.
The colored smoke caused a delay in the starting whistle at the request of Argentine referee Yael Falcon, due to lack of clarity of vision on the field. But the excitement did not last long, as Al-Hilal did not give its guest, Al-Ahly, the opportunity to catch a breath, and from a falling ball towards the Serbian Savic, he calmly tamed it and took a step, then cornered it once morest the Senegalese Eduardo Mendy, announcing a Hilal goal in the 47th second.
A struggle for the ball between Kessi from Al-Ahly and Michael from Al-Hilal (Photography: Yazid Al-Samrani)
The Frenchman Saint-Maximan, who held the breath of Al-Ahly fans throughout last week, for fear of not participating due to injury, launched a ball that surprised Al-Hilal’s defences, but Yassine Bounou made the decision to advance and cover the defensive lapse, and there Al-Hilal coach Jesús appeared angry with his players for leaving the space.
In the 17th minute, Al-Ahly received a foul near the penalty area, and Riyad Mahrez advanced to it and sent it powerfully past the left post of Moroccan Yassine Bounou.
In the 19th minute, Yasser Al-Shahrani converted a cross to which Brazilian Michel rose and headed it, but Mendy blocked it with difficulty and returned to the penalty area once more. Salem Al-Dosari shot it, but it crossed the crossbar without danger.
Portuguese Rubén Neves saved his team’s goal, Al Hilal, from a goal that was close to Al Ahly’s, following a clear solo attempt by Frenchman Maximin, who seemed to be the most annoying to Al Hilal’s defenses through his sudden runs.
Savic scored the first goal for Al Hilal (Photo by: Yazid Al Samrani)
In the 26th minute, Malcolm fell inside the penalty area, and the Argentine referee, Yael Falcon, announced a penalty kick in his favor, amid a protest from Al-Ahly on the pretext that the ball touched Malcolm’s hand before he fell, but the referee confirmed his decision following consulting the video assistant referee, and Serbian Mitrovic advanced, but the Senegalese goalkeeper, Eduardo Mendy, came forward. He tackled it brilliantly.
Only minutes passed until Mitrovic returned to reconcile with Al Hilal fans, following he rose to Saud Abdel Hamid’s cross and headed the ball towards Al Ahly’s net, announcing Al Hilal’s second goal in the 37th minute.
Al-Ahly did not rely on the result, but rather tried to reach Yassine Bounou’s net several times, but his attempts did not pose a real danger.
Brazilian Malcolm was the most annoying to Al-Ahly’s defenses in the first half of the match, causing a penalty kick for his team, and Brazilian defender Ibanez and Abdel Basset Hindi received two yellow cards.
Malcolm was not satisfied with that, but he went forward to commit a foul near the penalty area moments before the end of the half, and sent the ball brilliantly towards the net, but it hit the crossbar and prevented it from entering.
The second half began amid a clear desire on the part of Al-Ahly to make changes, and the first attempt was by Frenchman Maximin, then Vega.
Al Hilal fans warmly supported their team in El Clásico (Al Hilal Club)
Al Hilal almost killed the match with a unilateral attack led by Brazilian Michel, and a cross was saved by Eduardo Mendy before it reached Serbian Mitrovic.
The 58th minute smiled for the Al-Ahly team, which tried a lot to adjust the result, but its attempts failed, so French star Maximin scored his team’s goal following a perfect pass from Riyad Mahrez, which he cornered inside Yassine Bounou’s net, breaking the series of clean sheets for the Blue Team.
Al-Ahly received a morale boost following the goal, and repeated its attempts towards Al-Hilal’s goal, and Riyad Mahrez’s shot was the most dangerous of those attempts.
Frenchman Maximin was unable to complete the match, as Al-Ahly coach Matthias Jaesle, German, decided to expel him due to his lack of technical readiness to complete the match.
Al Hilal gets a foul near the penalty area, and Savic advances to her and sends her falling over the crossbar once more.
Al-Ahly goalkeeper Eduardo Mendy saved his team from conceding a third goal in the 79th minute following a solitary attack by Salem Al-Dossari towards Serbian Mitrovic, but Mendy was closer to it. His compatriot Khalidou Koulibaly, Al Hilal’s defender, shone two minutes later, saving his team’s net from a goal opportunity for Al Ahly that was between the feet of Firas Al-Braikan and the Spaniard Vega.
After a few minutes, Al-Ahly was close to adjusting the score with successive attacks towards the blue net, and Al-Hilal scored the third goal, but friendly fire scattered Al-Ahly’s accounts on the return trip, as Saud Abdel Hamid sent a long cross, which defender Ibanez tried to transfer to Mendy, his team’s goalkeeper. But it went long and passed the goalkeeper and into the green net.
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