Al Hilal Reclaims Saudi Pro League Summit in Thrilling Seven-Goal Victory; Al Nassr Climbs to Second

Al Hilal has surged back to the pinnacle of the Saudi Pro League following a dramatic seven-goal encounter with Al Qadsiah on Friday. Al Qadsiah, who had surprisingly held the top spot, conceded the lead in the 21st minute at Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium. Gabriel Martinelli found the net for his sixth goal in as many SPL games, benefiting from a significant deflection after his move from Arsenal. Brendan Rodgers' team managed to equalize within ten minutes, with Julian Quinones, last season's SPL Golden Boot winner, scoring his fifth goal of the current campaign.

The next goal did not materialize until 13 minutes from full-time, with Al Hilal regaining the advantage. Ruben Neves, named man of the match, scored with a precise low finish into the bottom corner, assisted by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. Al Hilal appeared to secure the three points with six minutes remaining when Milinkovic-Savic fired home a first-time shot, his 50th for the Riyadh club, following a brilliant cutback from Sultan Mandash. However, Al Qadsiah fought back, with Mateo Retegui heading in a Tijjani Reijnders free-kick from the left with three minutes left on the clock. This goal brought the Italian striker's season tally to 10 goals in 14 appearances across all competitions, but it wasn't enough to prevent his team from suffering only their second SPL defeat of the season.

This victory marks Al Hilal's ninth win in ten league matches this season, bringing their total to 27 points from 10 games. Meanwhile, Al Nassr's 3-1 win against Al Faisaly propelled them to second place, pushing Al Qadsiah down to third. Abdullah Al Hamddan's early strike gave Al Nassr the lead, followed by an own goal from Andrei Girotto, despite Cristiano Ronaldo's attempts to claim it as his 982nd career goal, which extended Ange Postecoglou's side's lead to 2-0 just after halftime at Al Majma'ah Sports City Stadium. Congolese winger Theo Bongonda pulled one back for Al Faisaly midway through the second half, but an impressive strike from Brazilian attacker Angelo secured all three points for the reigning champions. Al Nassr moved ahead of Al Qadsiah on goal difference but remain two points behind leaders Al Hilal.

Cristiano Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes and had several near misses, hitting the post in the first half and having a second-half goal disallowed by VAR for offside. The Portuguese veteran, who also missed a penalty in the midweek win over Neom, played a key role in the build-up to Angelo's decisive goal, marking Al Nassr's third consecutive win.

In other action, Al Ahli's Ivan Toney continued his impressive scoring form with a brace in their 4-1 victory over Al Khaleej in Jeddah, extending their winning streak to four games. Toney opened the scoring with a deflected header in the 11th minute and added a penalty in stoppage time, bringing his SPL goal tally to 13 in nine appearances. A goalkeeping error by Al Khaleej's Marwan Al Haidari led to Artem Bondarenko making it 2-0, before Toney assisted Trincao for the third goal. Despite Al Khaleej being reduced to 10 men in the 69th minute after Mateo Benegas was sent off, they managed a late consolation through Thamer Al-Khaibari before Toney's penalty sealed the win for Al Ahli, who are now fifth in the table, six points behind Al Hilal.