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Haytham Mohamed

No Neymar, no problem for Al-Hilal! Saudi Pro League winners & losers as Sergej Milinkovic-Savic steps up for new leaders while Al-Nassr's winning run comes to an end

Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. missed the chance to close the gap at the top of the table in a week of shock results

The latest round of Saudi Pro League fixtures was full of surprises, as we saw another change at the top of the table and a number of the title challengers dropping points in shock circumstances.

The biggest game of the week was the Jeddah derby, as leaders Al-Ittihad took on out-of-form Al-Ahli. It was the latter who came out victorious, however, as Franck Kessie scored the only goal of the game to secure all three points.

Ittihad's defeat allowed Al-Hilal to move back to the top of the table with a win over Al-Akdoud, and they did just that, running out 3-0 victors despite not being able to call upon Neymar, who missed the match to attend the birth of his second child.

Elsewhere, Al-Nassr's winning run ended after 10 matches in all competitions, as they were pegged back by managrless Abha in stoppage-time for a 2-2 draw, though results elsewhere mean Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. are now up to third in the table.

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from matchday nine of Saudi Pro League action...

  • WINNER: Frank Kessie

    One of if not the signing of the summer so far in the Pro League, Kessie wrote his name into Al-Ahli folklore as his fierce strike proved to be the winner in their Jeddah derby victory over Al-Ittihad.

    The former Barcelona midfielder suffered a head injury early on in Friday's encounter after going down under a challenge from Ittihad defender Luiz Felipe that drew penalty appeals. Those were waved away, but after Kessie was patched up by the medical team, he was able to pick himself up and become the hero.

    The Ivorian's goal may also saved his manager, Matthias Jaissle, from the sack, with the ex-Red Bull Salzburg coach having come under increasing pressure in recent weeks. However, the way his team rallied without Merih Demiral and Allan Saint-Maximim to call upon offers hope for the future.

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  • Nuno Espirito Santo Al-Ittihad 2023-24Getty Images

    LOSER: Nuno Espirito Santo

    On the other side, Ittihad's defeat has heaped more pressure on manager Nuno Espirito Santo, whose side now find themselves in fourth following their second loss of their title defence already.

    Nuno opted to start with a 4-2-4 formation against Al-Ahli, as Karim Benzema was joined up front by Abderrazak Hamdallah, Romarinho and Igor Coronado, and his experiment didn't work. Critics compared it to Luis Enrique's tactical misstep earlier in the week when Paris Saint-Germain were blown away by Newcastle, and it is those critics who are beginning to wonder whether Nuno is the right man for the job.

  • WINNER: Sergej Milinkovic Savic

    Having arrived at Al-Hilal after leading Lazio to a second-placed finish in Serie A last season, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was expected to be one of the star performers in the Pro League. It has not always been plain sailing for the Serbia midfielder so far, however, and he needed a trademark performance to win his new supporters over.

    On Saturday against Al-Akhdoud he did just that, scoring twice in a 3-0 win that moves Hilal back to the top of the table as we head into the international break. Milinkovic-Savic stepped up for the team after Neymar was forced to miss the game to attend the birth of his child, and the hope is that this will truly kickstart his campaign.

  • Steven Gerrard Al-Ettifaq 2023-24Getty Images

    LOSER: Steven Gerrard

    Results elsewhere over the weekend meant that a win for Al-Ettifaq over Al-Fath would have moved Steven Gerrard's side to within three points of the Pro League summit after an encouraging start to the campaign.

    They looked on course to do just that, too, when top scorer Moussa Dembele opened the scoring in the second half, but goals in the 85th and 93rd minutes from the visitors means that Ettifaq head into the international break sat seventh in the table.

  • Al-Taawoun 2023-24Getty Images

    WINNER: Al-Taawoun

    Anyone who checked the Pro League standings on Friday morning may well have got quite the shock at the sight of Al-Taawoun sitting atop the table ahead of all the pre-season title favourites.

    Despite spending almost nothing compared to their rivals over the summer, Taawoun have lost just one game so far this season, and though Al-Hilal eventually overtook them on Saturday night, that they find themselves second in the table after a quarter of the campaign is a remarkable achievement.

    The star of their most recent 3-0 win over Al-Ta'ee was former Real Madrid academy star Alvaro Medran, who scored one and assisted the other two to take his season tally of direct goal contributions to seven. If he can produce such a performance against Al-Ittihad next time out, then people will have to start taking Taawoun seriously as title contenders.

  • Luis CastroGetty

    LOSER: Luis Castro

    After racing into a 2-0 lead inside the first 30 minutes against Abha, it seemed almost certain that Al-Nassr would extend their winning run to 11 games in all competitions on Friday. That they didn't has been pinned on manager Luis Castro.

    It took until second-half stoppage-time for the visitors to make it 2-2, but between times the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane wasted a number of chances to seal all three points. Despite that, it is Castro who has been blamed, most notably because of his second-half substitions.

    Many believe his decision to replace star midfielder Marcelo Brozovic led to the team becoming unbalanced as they missed the chance to move to within two points of the top of the table.