Saudi Pro League 2025-26: Al-Nasr suffered its first defeat of the season thanks to two goals from Ivan Toni.

Jeddah, January 03: Thanks to two brilliant goals from England striker Ivan Toney, Al-Ahli Saudi defeated Al-Nasr 3-2 in the match played on Friday night at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah. This is Al-Nasr’s first defeat in the Saudi Pro League 2025-26. From the beginning of the match, Al-Ahly took full advantage of Al-Nasr’s high defensive line. In the very first minute, Galeno’s shot hit the crossbar, making the home team’s intentions clear. In the seventh minute, Ivan Toni gave Al-Ahly the lead by heading the ball into the net on Galeno’s square pass. Toni scored his second goal in the 20th minute, when he ran on a pass from his own half and fired a powerful shot past Al-Nasr goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi and made the score 2-0. However, in the 30th minute, Al-Nasr got lucky when Abdulelah Al-Amri’s relatively easy shot from Al-Ahly goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Sanabi went between his legs and into the goal. After this, just before halftime, Al-Amri leveled the score at 2-2 with a strong header from Marcelo Brozovic’s corner. Before halftime, Toni created a chance to score another goal, but his shot hit the bottom of the post and both teams went into the break on a tie. In the second half, Al-Ahli’s Merih Demiral scored the decisive goal. Ivan Toni expertly hooked Matheus Gonçalves’ free-kick behind the ball, before Demirel fired a header from inside the six-yard box into the net. Al-Nasr then controlled most of the ball, but could not create a clear chance to score an equaliser. The atmosphere became heated in the last moments of the match and one player each from both the teams was shown a red card. Al-Ahly’s Ali Mazrashi was sent off for slapping Joao Felix, while Al-Nassr’s Nawaf Bouschel received a red card for a foul on the last defender. Al-Nasr’s star player Cristiano Ronaldo had a lackluster performance. His only notable effort in the full 90 minutes was a first-half header that went wide of the target. With the defeat, Al-Nassr has handed rivals Al-Hilal the chance to take top spot in the title race, provided they win against Damaq on 4 January. At the same time, Al-Ahli Saudi remains in fourth place despite this victory, but it has reduced the points difference from Al-Taawoon to three.