Our favourite league seems to flood us with infinite matches, with which we can barely keep up. At least, we try: please see below our latest review of the key events of the Roshn Saudi League.
A lot of goals.
We have to congratulate to quite a lot of players for their astonishing performances and finishing:
– Ivan Toney (Al Ahli) contributed a hat-trick to the heavy defeat Al Khaleej suffered at the hands of the Champions of Asia. It seems that the Englishman is enjoying football in Jeddah as he scored nine goals in the last six rounds.
– Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr) scored the winner against Damac as the Riyadhi giants are about to resurrect their title hopes. The Portuguese legend is also on the verge of the incredible achievement of a thousand career goals, currently standing at 960.
– Two braces were scored, both of them in a 2-2 draw: in-form Colombian hitman Roger Martínez (Al Taawoun) and captain Saeed Al Rubaie (Al Okhdood) helped their teams to much needed points.
Managerial impact.
We have to bow before Al Qadsiah as their project is managed extremely well.
The team was – once again – cleverly strengthened in the summer and head coach Míchel – despite performing rather well – was mercilessly replaced to Brendan Rodgers just before the winter transfer window kicked off.
Nevertheless, continued progression was touted as a reason, and the appointment of the former Liverpool boss seems to have been a masterstroke to achieve just that. After a challenging debut draw against Damac, Al Qadisah won 5 out of 5 matches, either with a very convincing scoreline, or against a big team (Al Nassr, Al Ittihad).
The upcoming derby against Al Hilal is a must-watch as the two most in-form teams will clash. Indeed, Rodgers and Inzaghi are the only unbeaten coaches in the Roshn Saudi League, and we are curious to see which of them will be able to brag with this achievement by the end of January.
Unpredictable is normal in the Saudi Pro League.
Finally, careful with betting as surprises in this league aren’t uncommon. Not so long ago we have been praising both Al Ittihad and Al Fateh – look at them now. Poor Pacheco was heavily let down by his defence against a surprisingly clinical Al Kholood, and the Tigers were tamed by the aforementioned Al Qadsiah (and, mostly, by Julián Quiñones).
Let’s end the summary on a high note: NEOM finally registered a clean sheet, which they weren’t able to do since the third round.
