Al-Ahli have secured a comfortable 3-1 victory over Al-Khaleej to continue their dominant start to the new Saudi Pro League season.
The Jeddah-based side kicked off their league campaign last week with an impressive 3-1 win over Al-Hazm as Roberto Firmino scored an impressive hat-trick on his debut.
The club suffered a huge blow days later as the Brazilian was ruled out of their encounter with Al-Khaleej after suffering a hamstring injury during training.
As a result, head coach Matthias Jaissle decided to start Fahad Al-Rashidi up top with Allan Saint-Maximin and Riyad Mahrez occupying the wings at the Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam.
The opening minutes of the game saw Al-Ahli get off to a flying start as they drew first blood after nine minutes with summer-arrival Roger Ibanez finishing off a sublime move started by Riyad Mahrez.
His countryman Ryad Boudebouz nearly got on the scoresheet in the 36th minute but his long-range effort went inches over the bar.
At the stroke of half-time, Al-Ahli managed to double their advantage as Fahad Al-Rashidi’s cutback was met with an unstoppable volley from Mahrez to open his scoring account in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Khaleej fought back after the break and pulled one back near the hour mark through Mansour Hamzi to get his side back in the game.
However, Al-Ahli’s second-half substitute Sumayhan Al-Nabit sealed the win with a delicate turn and chip in stoppage time to extend their perfect league start.
“We are so happy to have these fans with us,” Mahrez told SSC Sports after the game. “They pushed us until the last minute and gave us the energy we needed.
“I’m delighted to score my first goal for Al-Ahli but we have to keep going and it’s important to keep this momentum. We have to take it game by game.”