Al-Ahli Jeddah vs Al-Gharafa 2-1

Al-Ahli Jeddah beat Al-Gharafa 2-1 at Alinma Stadium after Ivan Toney put them ahead early and Matheus Gonçalves Martins struck in the 86th minute to settle it. Florinel Coman drew Al-Gharafa level in the second half, but they finished with 10 men after Seydou Sano was sent off.

Toney opened the scoring in the 4th minute, turning in Eduard Spertsyan’s assist for 1-0. The half brought bookings for Fabricio Díaz, Toney and Hyun-Soo Jang, before Al-Gharafa made two changes just before the break, sending on Yacine Brahimi and Ayoub Al-Oui. Al-Ahli led 1-0 at half-time.

Al-Gharafa found their equaliser in the 53rd minute when Florinel Coman converted Saifeldeen Fadlalla’s assist to make it 1-1. Al-Ahli responded with a double change in the 64th minute and then a further switch after Al-Gharafa took Coman off in the 67th minute, but the decisive moment came after Sano’s second-half booking turned into a red card in the 77th minute. Gonçalves Martins made it 2-1 in the 86th minute, and Al-Ahli saw out the last stages before making two more changes in stoppage time.

The numbers matched a tight contest in front of goal. Al-Ahli had 62% possession and 455 passes to Al-Gharafa’s 272, while both sides finished with two shots on target. Al-Gharafa had more shots, 13 to 11, and both teams won three corners. Al-Ahli’s 1.59 xG was ahead of Al-Gharafa’s 0.59, and they also had one save to Al-Gharafa’s none.

Seydou Sano was sent off in the 77th minute after booking in the 70th. Al-Gharafa’s other yellow cards went to Fabricio Díaz in the 18th minute, Hyun-Soo Jang in the 42nd, Abdulrahman Al-Rashidi in the 89th and Ferjani Sassi three minutes into stoppage time. Al-Ahli’s yellow cards were to Ivan Toney in the 29th minute and Saad Yaslam Balobaid in the 74th.