Al-Shabab vs Al-Ahli: Ivan Toney misses clash after court hearing
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- Al-Shabab led Al-Ahli 4-1 in the second half of Friday's Roshn Saudi League Round 12 game in Riyadh.
- Ivan Toney missed the match after facing a court hearing in London on Thursday. He pleaded not guilty to an assault charge.
- Feras Al-Buraikan replaced Toney up front. Al-Ahli also lost goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi to a red card.
Al-Shabab stunned Al-Ahli in Riyadh on Friday night. They led 4-1 in the second half of the Saudi league game. Al-Ahli played without star striker Ivan Toney.
The England forward was in London for a court hearing on Thursday.
What happened
Al-Shabab raced into a 3-0 lead in the first half. Yannick Carrasco curled in a free kick in the 26th minute. Roger Martinez scored from the penalty spot in the 37th minute.
According to Sportradar's live tracker, Al-Shabab had 66 percent of the ball in that spell.
Feras Al-Buraikan pulled one back for Al-Ahli just before half time. The Saudi striker finished a move set up by Matheus Goncalves in the 40th minute. That goal made the score 3-1 at the break.
Ricardo Mathias struck the fourth goal three minutes after the restart. He headed in Yacine Adli's cross in the 48th minute. At the 62nd minute, the score stood at 4-1 to Al-Shabab.
Al-Ahli's night got worse before half time. Goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi was sent off in the 25th minute. Coach Marino Pusic had to sacrifice defender Rayan Hamed.
Backup goalkeeper Abdullah Ahmed Abdo came on in his place.
Why Toney was missing
Toney's absence had nothing to do with form or fitness. He appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London on Thursday. The 30-year-old is accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The charge follows an alleged incident at a nightclub on Wardour Street in Soho last December.
Toney pleaded not guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court earlier this month. He chose to have the case heard by a judge and jury. The BBC and The Times both reported the details of the case.
The timing killed any chance of him playing in Riyadh. The hearing landed roughly 33 hours before Friday's match. Saudi paper Arriyadiyah reported that Toney simply ran out of time to reach the game.
He will instead join the squad in Qatar. Al-Ahli face Al-Sadd there on Monday in the AFC Champions League Elite.
Pusic picked Feras Al-Buraikan to lead the line in Toney's place. The Dutch coach kept Francisco Trincao and Matheus Goncalves alongside him. Wenderson Galeno, back from injury, had to settle for a place on the bench.
Pusic also made a bold call in goal. He left out Senegalese star Edouard Mendy entirely. The coach stuck with Saudi keeper Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi.
That call backfired when Al-Sanbi saw red in the 25th minute.
Why it matters
The result ended both teams' four-match unbeaten runs. Al-Shabab came into the night with wins over Al-Taawoun and Al-Fateh. They had also drawn with Al-Fayha and Al-Faisaly, per YSscores.
Al-Ahli arrived with 21 points from 10 games and dreams of pushing up the table.
The 4-1 scoreline exposed Al-Ahli's thin cover up front. Toney has scored in big games all season. Without him, the attack looked blunt even before Al-Sanbi's red card.
Al-Buraikan did score, but the visitors barely tested Shabab keeper Mory Diaw.
The match also settled a small English subplot. Josh Brownhill started in midfield for Al-Shabab. The two Englishmen won a league title together at Barnsley nearly ten years ago.
They had last faced off in Jeddah last October, when both scored in a 1-1 draw. This time Brownhill ended up on the winning side without Toney on the pitch.
For Pusic, questions will follow. Leaving Mendy out of the squad raised eyebrows before kickoff. Losing the stand-in keeper to a red card turned a risk into a crisis.
Al-Ahli finished the night with four defeats from 11 games.
Al-Shabab's win mattered for the other end of the table too. They started the night in 12th place on 11 points. Ten points separated them from Al-Ahli in fifth, per YSscores.
A win like this cuts that gap. It lifts the mood after a winless first seven rounds.
What happens next
Al-Ahli travel to Qatar next. They face Al-Sadd on Monday in the AFC Champions League Elite. Toney is expected to join the squad there, according to Arriyadiyah's report.
Pusic needs a response after this beating.
The legal case will rumble on. Toney was released on unconditional bail. He must return to court at the appointed time.
The player says he is innocent and wants to prove it before the court.
Al-Shabab will try to ride this wave. They host their next league game knowing they can hurt top-half sides. Martinez, Carrasco and Mathias all look sharp in attack.
For the latest Saudi league action, see our Al-Nassr vs Al-Kholood live score coverage. Our Konyaspor vs Galatasaray live title-race explainer covers another Friday-night showdown. And our Le Havre vs PSG match report shows how Friday night shocks hit Europe too.
One caution for now: the 4-1 lead was a live snapshot at the 62nd minute. Final scores can still change late in games. Check the final result through a live score provider before quoting the score as final.
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