New era at Al-Ahli opens with hard-fought win

Al-Ahli opened their 2026-27 Saudi Pro League campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over newly promoted Diriyah Club on Thursday, with a debut goal from Armenian playmaker Eduard Spertsyan proving decisive.

The result marked a winning start for new head coach Marino Pusic, the former Shakhtar Donetsk boss appointed after Matthias Jaissle left to join Newcastle United. Having finished third last season, Al-Ahli enter a new era under the Croatian tactician, who takes charge of a side five points adrift of champions Al-Nassr.

Spertsyan settles it on debut

Spertsyan, a recent €25m signing from Russia's Krasnodar, put Al-Ahli in front in the 25th minute. His shot ricocheted beyond the grasp of Nikola Vasilj after a fortuitous bounce of the ball on the left side of the area.

Diriyah, who appointed former Wolves and Benfica boss Bruno Lage as head coach last month, were far from overawed. Oscar Rodriguez spurned their first chance after just three minutes, shooting tamely at Abdulrahman Al Sanbi from an excellent position.

The hosts pressed hard for an equaliser, but Gaetan Laborde, Omar Colley, Clayton Diandy and Meshari Al Nemer — the latter with a close-range header six minutes from time — all missed decent chances as Al-Ahli clung onto the three points.

A quiet day for Toney

Al-Ahli talisman Ivan Toney was quiet on the opening day, coming off the back of a 32-goal campaign and a trip to the World Cup with England. But it is surely only a matter of time before Toney and Spertsyan form a fearsome partnership.

In addition to his goal, Spertsyan created twice as many chances as any other player on the pitch — six, compared to Hussain Al Qahtani's three for Diriyah — while completing 28 of his 29 passes for a 96.6% passing accuracy.

Elsewhere on opening day

In Thursday's other games, Al-Qadsiah beat Al-Shabab 3-1 and Al-Hazem won 2-1 at Abha.

Last season's runners-up, Al-Hilal, open their campaign against Al-Faisaly on Friday, before Cristiano Ronaldo's title-winning Al-Nassr face Al-Fateh on Saturday.