Deals done, lights up, Saudi Pro League here we go! The world’s second most disruptive sporting competition (after the other Saudi one, in golf) got under way in Jeddah on Friday night where Al-Ahli’s pack of imported stars managed to haul themselves over the line against Al-Hazm, a team of plucky journeymen from the Arabian sticks.
A hat-trick for Roberto Firmino decided the game and both he and Riyad Mahrez looked a class above the rest of the players on display. For other big name signings, say Édouard Mendy and Allan Saint-Maximin, the word sketchy sprang to mind. They may yet have to find a higher level of performance to justify their tax-free pay cheques.
Saint-Maximin had the excuse of being only recently arrived in the country and adjusting from the Tyneside drizzle to Jeddah’s intense heat. “It’s a big difference and it’s really difficult to play in the heat, the first spring at training was hard,” said the former Newcastle man after the match. “But I don’t think it was a bad first game. I’m really happy to help my team get three points and I’m really happy to be here tonight.”
For the organisers, nominally the Saudi Pro League, but also the ever-present Public Investment Fund which took ownership of Al-Ahli this summer, the most important target was achieved: this was an engaging piece of entertainment. There were skills, spills and a little dose of controversy and – for the cameras sending images to 130 territories across the world – there was colour and energy from the stands.
Before the match the streets around the Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium were gridlocked. This opening fixture may have attracted double the average crowd for an Al-Ahli match but, all the same, there were thousands of fans – most of them teenagers – singing and banging the walls of the stands for two hours before kick-off. As a barrage of red pyro went off in the stands and blocked sight of the pitch, it felt very much like the real deal.
When Al-Ahli beat Al-Hazm to the Saudi Division 1 title, their players were not allowed to celebrate. The club’s first relegation from the top tier was too great a shame to shake off immediately. And so, despite all the stars, every single one of whom started this match, there was a clear intensity to the team’s preparations, they wanted to show the crowd how serious they were.
Such is the gulf in playing resources they didn’t have to strain too hard to get an edge over their fellow promoted side. There was just six minutes on the clock where the team in green took the lead. The composite elements of the goal would be familiar to Premier League fans. The move began with a mazy dribble from Saint-Maximin on the left-hand side. The ball ended up at the feet of Mahrez, who had drifted wide from his inside right position and crossed delicately with the inside of his right foot to the near post. There, arriving late, was Firmino, who turned the ball in the net with a stunned flick that gave the impression in the ground of a ‘no look’ header.
Four minutes later and the trio had combined again for a second. This time Saint-Maximin’s dribble had petered out to a bobbling end, but the ball still came to Mahrez who this time cut inside to cross with his left foot. The ball was deep and low and Firmino turned up at the back post to sidefoot his finish home. Both goals were subject to lengthy VAR checks before being approved, proving once again that football is a global game.
Usually the mantra of the underdog is to keep it tight for the first 20, but with that plan blown out of the water Al-Hazm came out of their shell a bit and should have had a penalty in the 14th minute. Their diminutive schemer Tozé took advantage of Mendy dallying on the ball, rounded the former Chelsea keeper and immediately collapsed to the ground after what looked very much like a foul. The referee blew for a free-kick, however, and came over to give Tozé a ticking off.
After the match drifted off into something soft and unthreatening, to the extent that fans were accompanying their chants with their phone torches on the half hour, the contest spark back into life in the second period. Al-Hazm’s Brazilian forward Vina scored a delicious lob from 25 yards five minutes after the restart. Admittedly Mendy played his part, wandering to the edge of his box despite his team being out of possession.
Al Ahli’s pre-existing Algerian international Ryad Boudebouz then had a strike disallowed for offside while Saint-Maximin dragged a shot wide when through on goal. The former Newcastle man made up for it in the 71st minute, however, when his cross was met by Boudebouz whose header rebounded to Firmino for a hat-trick on his debut.
