Ivan Toney dey fire Al Ahli, Saudi League title race still hot

Al Ahli don show say dem no dey give up for Saudi League title race after dem hammer Damac 3-0 for Saturday match. The Jeddah giants return to Roshn Saudi League action with comprehensive victory wey keep dem third for table, but now dem dey level with second-placed Al Hilal and just five points behind leaders Al Nassr.

Challenged the previous night by Cristiano Ronaldo and Co to keep up with Al Nassr, Al Ahli promptly obliged. The win, set in motion by Dhari Al Anazi’s 3rd-minute own goal and golden-boot frontrunner Ivan Toney’s 26th goal of the RSL season three minutes later, keeps Al Ahli third, but drew them level with second-placed Al Hilal and five points off leaders Al Nassr.

Ronaldo marked his 100th RSL appearance with a double on Friday in Al Nassr’s 5-2 win against bottom club Al Najmah while, 24 hours later, Al Hilal were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Al Taawoun. So, with seven rounds remaining, Al Ahli have at least eliminated the gap to second.

And, thanks to getting back to winning ways following a crushingly late defeat to title rivals Al Qadsiah last time out, a first top-flight crown in a decade remains in sight.

Speaking after Saturday’s 3-0 triumph, Al Ahli captain Edouard Mendy said: “It was a very important game after the [FIFA international] break. Now it’s the final sprint, so we knew we had to take the points because we dropped some in Al Qadsiah for the first time for a while. So we knew that today was very important for the three points.”

Mendy talk say: “You can see the way we started was very good with a lot of intensity, a lot of good combinations with the ball. Also without the ball, we pressed them high. We dominated the whole game. And you can see we have a lot of injuries, but we’re still fighting. We stick together and you can see, no matter who plays, we perform. This is the most important.”

One of the RSL’s standouts since joining Al Ahli in 2023, Mendy is in pole position to land a first Goalkeeper of the Season award. The Senegal international, 34, has kept 12 clean sheets this campaign, two more than Al Nassr’s Bento, his closest challenger in the battle for the 2025-26 RSL Golden Glove.

Of helping Al Ahli on Saturday to a 15th clean sheet overall this term, Mendy added: “Yeah, it’s good. It’s good for the team; it’s good for myself, obviously. We know that if we don’t concede, we have a higher chance to win the game. So for us, it’s really important to not concede goals, to keep the goal closed. So [doing so against Damac] is good – and we have to just keep on going.”

This season’s second Eastern Derby will be fascinating for a whole host of reasons. First, there’s the element of Al Qadsiah looking to keep in touch in the Roshn Saudi League title hunt, for which they need maximum points to maintain pressure on the three teams above them.

Heading into the closing gameday of Matchweek 27, Al Qadsiah are fourth, five points off second place and 10 back from leaders Al Nassr. Then there’s Julian Quinones and his battle with Ivan Toney and Cristiano Ronaldo for the 2025-26 golden boot. At present, he is joint-second with holder Ronaldo, both three back from Toney.

Looking at the derby, the mighty Mexican has an individual head-to-head with Georginio Wijnaldum; as the standout player and highest scorer for Al Ettifaq, the latter represents Quinones’ counterpart at Al Qadsiah’s fierce East Coast foes.

There’s also, of course, local bragging rights in a fixture that Al Qadsiah haven’t lost since 2020. Sunday at EGO Stadium in Dammam offers the opportunity for visitors to do the double; little more than one month ago, in the rescheduled Matchweek 10 fixture, Brendan Rodgers’ men put four past Saad Al Shehri’s side.

And then there’s one element that may go slightly more under the radar, even if it supplies an interesting subplot to the clash, but also the remainder of the RSL season. That, intriguingly, is the battle of the goalkeepers: Koen Casteels, for Al Qadsiah, and Marek Rodak, at Al Ettifaq.

Both are still in the running for this year’s Golden Glove, the prize awarded to the goalkeeper who keeps the most clean sheets in a RSL season. The pair have registered seven so far, behind Al Ahli’s Edouard Mendy (12), Al Nassr’s Bento (10) and Al Hilal’s Yassine Bono (nine).

For Casteels, the Belgian is looking to defend the award he collected last term when he registered an unparalleled 14 clean sheets. And, while with Rodgers Al Qadsiah have been a little more open at the back, conceding the most goals of any of the top four sides (16), the payoff has been at the other end.

During the attack-minded Northern Irishman’s short time there, they have scored more than any other team in the league (46). But, certainly, Rodgers would like to tighten up at the back, with Casteels and Al Qadsiah registering a solitary clean sheet in their past five RSL fixtures.

Most probably, that grates for a side that had the best defensive record in the league last season. So, where better to improve that record than against your provincial rivals? For sure, if Al Qadsiah can get a few more shutouts across the final eight rounds, it boosts their chances of sustaining their late title charge.

Clearly, the form of Casteels – and his defence in front of him – will be crucial. Rodak, meanwhile, is in some ways the form goalkeeper in the RSL, which sounds counterintuitive for a player who has conceded 44 goals this season.

But, just as clean sheets aren’t entirely the result of a goalkeeper’s endeavour alone, the same is true of goals conceded. It’s the team’s defensive unit that is responsible for both.

So, while Rodak might have conceded all those goals, he has also made more saves this campaign than any other of the league’s custodians, at 96. However, it’s no one off: the Slovakia international ranked second in that category last season, as well.

Typically, it tends to be goalkeepers from clubs at the bottom of the league that feature highest in this category, because they are usually the teams giving up the most chances. Rodak, though, somewhat bucks that trend, with Al Ettifaq sitting seventh heading into the season’s final stretch.

Thanks in large part to their man between the sticks, they hold aspirations of breaking into the top five come season’s end. To reinforce the point, clean-sheet leader Mendy comes in at 17th for saves, with 33.

It’s little more than one per game, and almost 70 fewer than Rodak has made through 2025-26 with the latter still to play this round. With Al Ettifaq facing 139 shots on target, Rodak’s save percentage of almost 70 percent constitutes one of the best in the division, on par with Casteels (58 saves from 84 shots faced, at 69%).

But, like their eastern neighbours, if Al Ettifaq are to deliver on their late-season ambitions, they will need Rodak to continue to play his part. Averaging 3.7 saves per match, he must not slip in standards.

Yet, for 90-plus minutes on Sunday, all the stats and potential individual accolades will be placed to one side. Any personal objectives must be put on hold.

The English striker has faith in his team’s abilities. Although Al-Nassr have pulled clear at the top of the Roshen Professional League table, Al-Ahli Jeddah’s English striker Ivan Toney has refused to throw in the towel with seven matches remaining.

Toney scored a goal in Al-Ahli’s comfortable 3-0 victory over Damac on Saturday, in the 27th round of the Roshen Professional League. Speaking to the programme “Action with Walid