English striker Ivan Toney led Al-Ahly Saudi Arabia to a 3-0 victory over its host Al-Khaleej Club, restoring the tone of victories in the Saudi Professional League today, Friday.
The hosts were the most dangerous since the beginning of the match when Fabio Martinez fired a shot from close range, but Al-Ahly’s defense kept it away, before Kostas Fortounis executed a free kick from a long range that hit the crossbar.
Al-Ahly defender Merih Demiral almost gave his team the lead, but his header after a corner kick went past the right post in the 41st minute.
Al-Khaleej received a strong blow immediately after the start of the second half, after Khaled Al-Sumairi was sent off in the 53rd minute following a review by the video assistant referee.
A review of the footage via the video assistant referee technology showed Al-Sumairi’s violent intervention on substitute Roberto Firmino, the Al-Ahly striker, to receive the red card, and Al-Khaleej played most of the second half with ten players.
Two minutes later, Riyad Mahrez executed a free kick towards Toni, who headed the ball over to Al-Braikan, who converted it with an easy header into the net.
Tony missed an easy opportunity to increase the score before the former Brentford striker was able to score the second goal in the 70th minute with a shot from close range.
In a rare attacking glimpse for Al-Khaleej in the second half, Martinez shot against the left post in the 73rd minute, but defender Demiral succeeded in scoring the third goal for Al-Ahly one minute later after following a rebound.
Al-Ahly, which lost to Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Hilal in the previous two matches, raised its score to 10 points in fifth place, ahead of Al-Khaleej, which occupies 12th place with 7 points.
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