Cristiano Ronaldo went scoreless as Al Nassr suffered their first loss of the season to Al Ittihad, while Ivan Toney's brace for Al Ahli took him to the outright lead of the Saudi Pro League's scoring charts. Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Al Nassr suffered their first defeat of the season on Friday, falling 2-1 to Al Ittihad at home in a result that also ended manager Ange Postecoglou’s unbeaten start on the bench. George Ilenikhena did the damage for the hosts, scoring a brace inside the opening 22 minutes, the first a header in the fourth minute and the second a composed left-footed finish after being played through by Houssem Aouar. Angelo pulled one back for the visitors just two minutes later, finishing from inside the box, but Al Nassr could not find an equalizer despite pushing hard in the second half and through six minutes of stoppage time. Ronaldo was unable to add to his tally in the defeat, despite a handful of half-chances throughout the match. It was the first time all season Al Nassr had failed to win, snapping a run that had them sitting second in the table with 12 points from four matches heading into the fixture. Full time. pic.twitter.com/d1os8IVBZX— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) September 5, 2026 Ivan Toney takes the lead in scoring charts While Ronaldo and Al Nassr stumbled, Ivan Toney continued his outstanding start to the campaign for Al Ahli, scoring twice from the penalty spot in a commanding 5-0 win over Al Riyadh. The Englishman opened the scoring in the 16th minute after Saad Balobaid was fouled in the box, then completed his brace in the 61st minute following a second penalty award, with Al Ahli’s foreign contingent doing most of the damage alongside additional goals from Edward Sperfsyan, Francisco Trincao and Naif Khaled Rashid Masoud. Toney’s brace now makes him the outright leader of the Saudi Pro League’s scoring charts, with 6 goals through five matches for Al Ahli. He sits well clear of the chasing pack, which includes Sergej Milinkovic-Savic of Al Hilal on 4 goals, while a large group, among them Ruben Neves, Alexandre Lacazette and Angelo, sit on 3. Meanwhile, Ronaldo remains further back in the chasing pack with 2 goals for the season, having gone scoreless again on Friday and now sitting four goals adrift of Toney at the top of the table, a stark contrast to the pace he set in previous campaigns atop Saudi Arabia’s scoring charts.
This was the first meeting between the two sides in 24 years since they faced each other in the old First Division, and Manchester City came out on top to extend their unbeaten run to 31 games against promoted sides. Enzo Maresca's side needed two late goals to rescue a result in the opening game against Bournemouth and, although this was another narrow victory at Etihad Stadium, it will continue to build their confidence and momentum. Despite being the start of a new season, Erling Haaland continues to find the back of the net with regularity.
How Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler views his side's performance will largely depend on which half he is analysing. After thrashing Aston Villa 4-0 at the Amex on the opening weekend of the season, the Seagulls were expected to make a lightning-quick start on home soil once again. In fact, it was a similarly sluggish start to the one Brighton made at Chelsea six days ago, as they found themselves a goal down within the first 15 minutes of the match.
Scott Minto believes that Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin gave defender Luka Vuskovic a tough introduction to English football. The post Now He Knows – Leeds United Man Gave Brighton Star Incredibly Tough Game Feels Ex-Defender appeared first on Inside Futbol | Latest Football News, Transfer Rumours & Articles.
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