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Court Date Costs Al-Ahli Their English Striker
Al-Ahli walked into Riyadh’s SHG Arena for their mini clasico with Al-Shabab on Friday without the man signed to lead their attack on nights exactly like this. A courtroom in London, not a dugout in Saudi Arabia, dictated the headline.
Ivan Toney, expected to spearhead the visitors in the twelfth round of the Roshn League, never made it back in time from a hearing at Southwark Crown Court, where he faced a charge of assaulting a person by battery. The case, held on Thursday, ran long enough to rule him out of the trip to the capital.
The clock, not the coach, made the final call.
Saudi outlet Arriyadiyah reported that Toney simply ran out of time to rejoin his club before the Al-Shabab clash. Instead, the English striker will link up with Al-Ahli directly in Qatar, where Marino Pusic’s side face Al-Sadd on Monday in the AFC Champions League Elite. The domestic “clasico” would have to go on without him.
Pusic forced into a reshuffle
With his marquee forward grounded by legal commitments, Dutch coach Marino Pusic ripped up the original plan and handed the No. 9 role to Firas Al-Buraikan. The Saudi international carried the responsibility of leading the line, flanked by Francisco Trincao and Matheus Goncalves, asked to provide the creativity and incision Toney was brought in to guarantee.
It was a bold front three, but also a necessary one.
On the bench, another big name waited. Brazilian winger Wenderson Galeno, finally clear of the injury that had ruled him out of the last four matches, was held in reserve. Fit enough to feature, not trusted enough yet to start. Pusic clearly preferred continuity in wide areas, at least from the opening whistle.
Behind them, the shape of the side underlined the coach’s intent to control the game through the middle. Valentin Atangana, Artem Bondarenko and Ziyad Al-Johani formed a hard-working midfield trio, tasked with dictating tempo and feeding the front line in the absence of their English target man.
Mendy sits, Al-Sanbi starts
One of the more striking calls came in goal. Edouard Mendy travelled with the squad to Riyadh but did not even make the matchday group. Pusic instead kept faith with Saudi goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi, a clear signal that status and reputation would not automatically trump form and tactical preference.
In front of Al-Sanbi, the back four of Mohammed Abdulrahman, Roger Ibanez, Rayan Hamed and Saad Balobaid offered a familiar look, charged with giving Al-Ahli the platform to push higher up the pitch against a struggling opponent.
Al-Ahli arrived in the capital sitting sixth in the Roshn League table, with 21 points from 7 wins and 3 defeats. Al-Shabab, by contrast, began the night in twelfth on 11 points, a gap that underlined the visitors’ status as favourites despite the high-profile absentee.
The XI tasked with delivering
Pusic’s chosen line-up read:
- Goalkeeper: Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi
- Defence: Mohammed Abdulrahman – Roger Ibanez – Rayan Hamed – Saad Balobaid
- Midfield: Valentin Atangana – Artem Bondarenko – Ziyad Al-Johani
- Attack: Francisco Trincao – Firas Al-Buraikan – Saleh Abu Al-Shamat
On paper, it was still a side built to win a mini clasico. But the shadow of Southwark Crown Court hung over the contest, a reminder that Al-Ahli’s season will be shaped not only by what happens under the floodlights, but also by what unfolds far away from the roar of the SHG Arena.
