Al-Ahli pull off comeback for the ages in stunning 3-3 draw with Al-Hilal

DUBAI: Al-Ahli came from three goals down on Friday night to pull off a scarcely believable 3-3 draw with visiting Al-Hilal at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, in what was surely one of the most remarkable matches in the history of the Saudi Pro League.

The result left the Jeddah crowd wildly celebrating rescuing a point they could only have dreamed of at the break, while the away fans were left ruing the failure to grab all three points, which would have seen their team go to the top of the table, albeit with Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad, both of whom have a 100 percent record after two games, set to play Al-Riyadh and Al-Najma respectively on Saturday.

Instead, Al-Hilal sit seventh in the league with five points from three matches, and Al-Ahli in eighth place with the same number of points but a slightly inferior goal difference.

The visitors opened the scoring in the 12th minute courtesy of left-back Theo Hernandez, who raced onto an outstanding pass from Malcom and fired a fine strike into the roof of Edouard Mendy’s net.

Coach Simone Inzaghi’s delight doubled on the 24-minute mark when the excellent Darwin Nunez ended a powerful run into Al-Ahli’s penalty area with a cross for Malcolm, who tapped the ball into a gaping net.

The home fans, who had welcomed coach Matthias Jaissle with an iconic tifo display at the start of the match, were in shock. The 2024-25 AFC Champions League winners were on the ropes and things got even worse for them in the 41st minute.

A raking pass out of defense by Kalidou Koulibaly found Salem Al-Dawsari with acres of space on the left wing and he in turn squared a precise pass to Malcolm, whose brilliant left-foot strike sailed past a motionless Mendy for the Brazilian’s second and