Al-Ahli 1-0 Neom: Toney secures opening day victory
Ivan Toney's first-half strike was enough to give Al-Ahli victory in their Saudi Pro League opener against Neom.
Al-Ahli kicked off their Saudi Pro League campaign with a 1-0 win at home against Neom.
Ivan Toney's composed finish after 23 minutes was enough to separate the two sides on the opening day as Saudi Super Cup champions Al-Ahli are second in the table, following Al-Ettifaq's 2-1 win over Al-Kholood.
It was a laboured start from both sides but Al-Ahli sprang into life midway through the first half. Enzo Millot showed great strength to hold off a challenge before playing Toney through on goal with a brilliant pass, as the striker placed the ball into the bottom-right corner.
Alexandre Lacazette had a golden chance to equalise four minutes into the second half after Saimon Bouabre found him unmarked in the box, but the Frenchman's finish was denied by Edouard Mendy.
Neom kept the pressure up in the second half, with Bouabre and Amadou Kone both forcing saves from Mendy, but Al-Ahli did well to restrict the visitors from creating clear-cut chances.
Mendy made one more save to keep out Ali Al Asmari's attempt from outside the box in the 87th minute, before Lacazette's rebound goal in the 90th minute was ruled out for offside.
Data Debrief: Millot hits the ground running
Despite the narrow scoreline, Al-Ahli were the more dominant side as they produced 1.0 expected goals (xG) to Neom's 0.49.
Millot made a big impact for Al-Ahli on his Saudi Pro League debut as he created the joint-most chances in the match (two), completed the second-most passes in the final third (13), competed in the most duels (15), while also intercepting the ball twice.
The French youth international has now directly contributed to goals in all three of his competitive games for Al-Ahli, scoring in the Saudi Super Cup semi-final before assisting the opener in the final.
