Earthquake at "Al-Raqi"

Al-Shabab shook the walls of their traditional rivals Al-Ahli, inflicting on them the heaviest defeat in their history of participation in the Saudi Roshn League.

The capital side ran out 6-1 winners today, Friday, at the SHG Arena in Riyadh, in the twelfth round of Roshn League fixtures.

Al-Ahli began the match poorly. Defender Rayan Hamed failed to keep the ball under control, letting Brazilian striker Ricardo Matias nip in and score Al-Shabab's first after just 66 seconds.

Worse was to follow. Goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi earned a straight red card in the 22nd minute for stopping a ball from Matias with his hand outside the penalty area.

The bigger problem? Dutch coach Marino Pusic had left Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy out of the matchday squad, forcing him to throw on young keeper Abdullah Abdu at the expense of Rayan Hamed.

Abdu conceded with his very first touch. Belgian winger Yannick Carrasco drilled home the free-kick, awarded for Al-Sanbi's dismissal, in the 26th minute.

Matias kept shining. He won a penalty that Colombian striker Roger Martinez tucked away for Al-Shabab's third in the 37th minute.

Firas Al-Buraikan pulled one back for Al-Ahli in the 40th minute, turning a low cross into the net.

At the break, Pusic tried to patch things up with several changes, most notably bringing on defender Mohammed Sulaiman Bakr to plug the gaping hole at the heart of the defence. Instead, Bakr gave away two penalties.

Just three minutes into the second half, Matias headed home a cross for his second and Al-Shabab's fourth.

Carrasco struck again in the 66th minute, netting his second and the visitors' fifth from a penalty. Roger Martinez won it after Bakr brought him down.

Bakr then floored Carrasco himself in the 82nd minute. Another penalty followed, and the Belgian winger buried it for Al-Shabab's sixth, completing a historic hat-trick.

This became Al-Ahli's heaviest defeat in Saudi Roshn League history, surpassing their previous worst in the 2018-2019 season, a 6-2 loss to Al-Ettifaq in the sixth round.

The defeat left Al-Ahli on 21 points from 7 wins and 4 defeats, down in sixth place.

Al-Shabab, meanwhile, moved up to 14 points and tenth in the standings.