JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, September 11, 2026: Al Hazem needed less than two minutes to shock Al Ahli. Ivan Toney and Francisco Trincão needed the rest of the first half to turn that shock into a 3-1 Saudi Pro League victory.
Al Ahli beat Al Hazem 3-1 after conceding inside two minutes. Toney scored twice, Trincão added the equalizer, and Al Ahli turned the match before halftime rather than allowing the early goal to dictate the night.
Ahmed Al-Nakhli gave Al Hazem the lead almost immediately at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium, but the advantage lasted only until the 21st minute.
Trincão equalized after being released by Toney. The England striker then converted a penalty in the 32nd minute before scoring again on the stroke of halftime.
Story at a glance
Al Hazem’s Second-Minute Goal Changed the Match Immediately
Al Hazem could hardly have designed a better opening.
Trincão’s Equalizer Prevented Al Hazem From Protecting the Lead
The timing of Trincão’s 21st-minute goal was crucial.
Ivan Toney Turned the Comeback Into Control
Toney’s first goal arrived from the penalty spot.
Ivan Toney’s Al Ahli Stats Became Even Stronger
Toney’s brace carried wider significance in the Saudi Pro League scoring race.
Toney Could Have Scored a Hat-Trick
The most unusual detail of Toney’s performance is that two goals could easily have become three.
Al Ahli entered the interval 3-1 ahead.
Toney even had an opportunity to complete a hat-trick early in the second half, but his second penalty struck the post.
The result returned Al Ahli to winning ways in Matchweek 7, lifted them to 12 points and fifth place, and left Al Hazem 10th on eight points.
The Sports Encounter has followed Al Ahli through a season already defined by sharp swings in momentum, including their 3-2 defeat against Al Qadsiah and the wider developments covered in our Saudi Pro League roundup.
The official Saudi Pro League match center provides the full Al Ahli vs Al Hazem match timeline, while the league’s official match report confirms the 3-1 comeback and its effect on the standings.
Al-Ahli vs Al-Hazem Timeline: How the Match Changed Before Halftime
| Minute | Event | What It Changed |
|---|---|---|
| 2′ | Ahmed Al-Nakhli scores for Al Hazem | The visitors stun Al Ahli with an immediate lead |
| 21′ | Trincão scores, assisted by Ivan Toney | Al Ahli restore parity before Al Hazem can settle completely |
| 29′ | Toney wins a penalty | Al Hazem goalkeeper Ibrahim Zaied is penalized |
| 32′ | Toney converts the penalty | Al Ahli lead for the first time |
| 45′ | Toney scores his second | Al Ahli take a 3-1 advantage into halftime |
| Early second half | Toney wins another penalty | A hat-trick opportunity opens immediately after the restart |
| 49′ | Toney’s penalty hits the post | Al Hazem avoid falling three goals behind |
| 83′ | Sofiane Bendebka hits the crossbar | Al Hazem’s best late opportunity fails to reopen the contest |
| Full time | Al Ahli win 3-1 | Hosts move to 12 points and fifth place |
Al Hazem’s Second-Minute Goal Changed the Match Immediately
Al Hazem could hardly have designed a better opening.
Al-Nakhli broke through after less than two minutes and beat Édouard Mendy to put the visitors ahead.
That goal mattered because it forced Al Ahli away from the comfortable script they would have expected at home.
The hosts could no longer spend the opening phase assessing Al Hazem.
They had to respond.
That situation had created problems for Al Ahli earlier in the season. When matches became unstable, their attacking talent sometimes came with defensive vulnerability.
Al Qadsiah exploited exactly that problem in their 3-2 victory over Al Ahli.
This time, the response was much more controlled.
Trincão’s Equalizer Prevented Al Hazem From Protecting the Lead
The timing of Trincão’s 21st-minute goal was crucial.
Al Hazem had spent almost 20 minutes ahead, but they had not been allowed to turn their early advantage into an entire first-half strategy.
Toney created the equalizer.
His pass released Trincão, who finished to restore parity.
That contribution became important later because Toney’s performance was not limited to his two goals.
He helped create the first, scored the second and third, and repeatedly placed Al Hazem’s defensive line under pressure.
Once the score became 1-1, the emotional balance of the game changed.
Al Hazem could no longer simply protect what they had.
Al Ahli had recovered early enough to keep pushing for the lead before halftime.
Ivan Toney Turned the Comeback Into Control
Toney’s first goal arrived from the penalty spot.
He was brought down by goalkeeper Ibrahim Zaied in the area, stepped up himself and converted in the 32nd minute.
That put Al Ahli ahead for the first time.
The second goal came just before halftime.
Saleh Abu Al Shamat forced a save from Zaied, and Toney reacted to the loose ball from close range to make it 3-1.
The sequence transformed the game.
Al Ahli had gone from trailing 1-0 to leading 3-1 within 24 minutes.
That was enough to turn the second half into a very different contest.
Ivan Toney’s Al Ahli Stats Became Even Stronger
Toney’s brace carried wider significance in the Saudi Pro League scoring race.
The two goals took him to 10 league goals.
According to the Saudi Pro League’s official post-match report, he also reached 11 goal contributions, leaving him as the competition’s leading scorer after Matchweek 7.
| Ivan Toney vs Al Hazem | Detail |
|---|---|
| Goals | 2 |
| Assist | 1, for Trincão’s equalizer |
| First goal | 32′ penalty |
| Second goal | 45′ |
| Second penalty | Missed in the 49th minute |
| League goals after match | 10 |
| League goal contributions after match | 11 |
That combination of scoring and creation is important.
Al Ahli did not simply need a striker who could finish moves.
They needed someone capable of affecting the structure of attacks around him.
Toney did both against Al Hazem.
That becomes particularly valuable in a league where rivals also possess forwards capable of changing close games. Cristiano Ronaldo remained central to Al Nassr’s attack, including when his 979th career goal helped them beat Abha, a match analyzed in The Sports Encounter’s Al Nassr vs Abha report.
Toney Could Have Scored a Hat-Trick
The most unusual detail of Toney’s performance is that two goals could easily have become three.
Almost immediately after halftime, he won another penalty.
This time, the outcome was different.
Toney sent the spot kick against the right post.
Al Hazem survived, and the score remained 3-1.
That miss did not change the final result, but it prevented what might have become a much heavier defeat.
It also showed how much pressure Al Ahli continued generating immediately after the restart despite already holding a two-goal advantage.
Al Hazem Did Not Collapse After Halftime
One of the more interesting aspects of the match is that the first half produced all four goals.
Al Hazem had every reason to unravel after turning an early lead into a 3-1 deficit.
They did not.
The visitors survived Toney’s second penalty and continued looking for a way back into the contest.
They created moments in the second half without finding the goal that would have made the closing stages uncomfortable for Al Ahli.
Late in the game, Sofiane Bendebka struck the crossbar.
Had that effort gone in, the final minutes could have looked very different.
Instead, Al Ahli kept the two-goal cushion and saw the match out.
Al Ahli vs Al Hazem Standings After the Match
The result mattered because both clubs were operating in a congested part of the Saudi Pro League table.
| Team | Points after Matchweek 7 | Position after match | Immediate effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Ahli | 12 | 5th | Returned to winning ways and strengthened their position in the upper half |
| Al Hazem | 8 | 10th | Missed an opportunity to move closer to the upper group |
The latest table can be checked through the official Saudi Pro League standings.
Al Ahli’s fifth-place position kept them in contact with a group where relatively small swings in form could still change the table quickly.
The Sports Encounter’s Saudi Pro League title-race analysis showed how competitive the upper section had already become.
Why Al Ahli’s Response Mattered More Than the Early Mistake
Conceding in the second minute is rarely part of a successful game plan.
The useful information came from what Al Ahli did afterward.
They did not spend the next 20 minutes forcing low-percentage attacks.
They stayed in the game long enough for their stronger attacking combinations to emerge.
Trincão restored parity.
Toney then turned parity into a lead.
By halftime, the early goal had become a footnote rather than the defining event.
That emotional control is significant for a team whose season had already included performances where momentum moved sharply against them.
Al Hazem Had Seen the Other Side of an Early Goal Days Earlier
The match also created an interesting contrast with Al Hazem’s earlier league performances.
They had already demonstrated how effectively an early goal could be protected when their defensive structure held.
The Sports Encounter’s analysis of Al Hazem’s 1-0 win over Al Taawoun showed how the club could survive long periods without dominating possession or attacking volume.
Against Al Ahli, the same broad idea initially appeared possible.
They scored early.
This time, however, the lead was gone after 21 minutes.
Once Trincão equalized, Al Hazem could no longer devote the entire game to protection.
Al Ahli’s Efficiency Separated the Teams
The match did not feel like a 90-minute siege.
Al Hazem had enough moments with the ball to remain involved and enough late attacking activity to threaten the frame of Mendy’s goal.
The separation came from decisive moments.
Al-Nakhli converted Al Hazem’s opening opportunity.
Al Ahli answered with three goals before halftime.
Toney’s ability to turn pressure into goals was the difference.
That kind of efficiency becomes especially important in the Saudi Pro League because the middle of the table contains enough talent to punish teams that waste their better periods.
Al Ittihad faced a similar problem in their meeting with Al Fayha, where individual finishing shaped a tight contest covered in The Sports Encounter’s Al Ittihad vs Al Fayha analysis.
Trincão’s Role Is Becoming More Important
Trincão’s equalizer should not disappear beneath the attention surrounding Toney’s brace.
It was the goal that stopped Al Hazem from dictating the match.
The Portuguese attacker gave Al Ahli a player capable of receiving the ball in advanced areas, combining with the center forward and finishing moves himself.
Against Al Hazem, the relationship with Toney was visible in the clearest possible way.
Toney created the equalizer.
Trincão finished it.
From there, the striker took over the scoring.
For Al Ahli, that is a healthier attacking model than relying on one player to manufacture every decisive action.
The Saudi Pro League Keeps Punishing Slow Reactions
This season has repeatedly shown how quickly games can change once one team loses control for a short period.
NEOM demonstrated it in their 2-0 victory over Al Hilal.
Diriyah have also shown how individual attacking quality can transform competitive matches, including through Darwin Núñez and Adil Boulbina in their win against Al Fateh.
Al Hazem experienced the same problem in Jeddah.
They were ahead.
Then they were level.
Eleven minutes later they were behind.
Thirteen minutes after that, the deficit was two.
That is how quickly one strong position can disappear in a league increasingly stocked with high-level attacking players.
What the 3-1 Result Means for Al Ahli
The win does not remove every question surrounding Al Ahli.
Consistency remains the larger challenge.
Their season has already contained convincing attacking performances and difficult defeats.
A club trying to remain near the strongest teams in the competition cannot afford long stretches where those two versions alternate unpredictably.
The Al Hazem result provides a useful template because it required more than playing well from the opening whistle.
Al Ahli had to recover.
They conceded almost immediately and then produced three goals before halftime.
That ability to correct a bad start without allowing it to define the result is valuable evidence for what comes next.
What the Defeat Means for Al Hazem
For Al Hazem, the frustration lies in how promising the match looked after two minutes.
An away goal that early gives a team options.
It can defend deeper.
It can attack transitions.
It can force the home side to take more risks.
Al Hazem never received enough time to make those advantages count.
Trincão’s equalizer arrived before the match could settle permanently into their preferred shape.
Toney’s penalty then reversed the scoreboard.
His second goal before halftime left the visitors needing a comeback of their own.
The late effort from Bendebka showed that Al Hazem did not simply stop playing, but by then the margin was too large.
TSE Analysis: Al Ahli Won the Match in the 24 Minutes After Falling Behind
The final score suggests a comfortable home victory.
The opening two minutes tell a very different story.
Al Ahli were forced into a problem almost immediately.
What followed was the most important part of the performance.
They did not require an entire match to recover.
Trincão equalized in the 21st minute.
Toney put them ahead in the 32nd.
He scored again in the 45th.
Twenty-four minutes separated Al Ahli’s equalizer from their third goal.
That stretch decided the match.
The second half then became about preventing Al Hazem from producing the one goal that could restore uncertainty.
Toney’s missed penalty meant Al Ahli failed to extend the advantage, but the hosts did enough defensively to preserve it.
Bendebka’s late effort against the crossbar was the reminder that the result still required concentration.
The biggest takeaway is therefore not simply that Toney scored twice.
It is that Al Ahli responded to an immediate setback without losing their attacking structure.
That is a more useful sign for the rest of their season than a routine victory in which nothing goes wrong.
Continue the Saudi Pro League Story
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won Al-Ahli vs Al-Hazem?
Al Ahli defeated Al Hazem 3-1 in Saudi Pro League Matchweek 7 on September 11, 2026.
What was the Al Ahli vs Al Hazem score?
The final score was Al Ahli 3-1 Al Hazem. Al Hazem scored first before Al Ahli replied with three first-half goals.
Who scored for Al Ahli against Al Hazem?
Francisco Trincão scored in the 21st minute, while Ivan Toney scored a penalty in the 32nd minute and added another goal in the 45th.
Who scored for Al Hazem against Al Ahli?
Ahmed Al-Nakhli scored Al Hazem’s goal in the second minute.
How many goals did Ivan Toney score against Al Hazem?
Toney scored twice. He also assisted Trincão’s equalizer and later missed a second-half penalty that struck the post.
How many Saudi Pro League goals did Ivan Toney have after the Al Hazem match?
Toney moved to 10 league goals after his brace and had 11 goal contributions, according to the Saudi Pro League’s official post-match report.
What was the halftime score in Al Ahli vs Al Hazem?
Al Ahli led 3-1 at halftime. All four goals were scored during the first half.
Did Ivan Toney miss a penalty against Al Hazem?
Yes. Toney had an opportunity to complete his hat-trick early in the second half, but his second penalty struck the right post.
What were the Al Ahli and Al Hazem standings after the match?
Al Ahli moved to fifth place with 12 points, while Al Hazem remained 10th with eight points after Matchweek 7.
Where was Al Ahli vs Al Hazem played?
The match was played at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
For more Saudi Pro League reporting, match analysis and regional soccer coverage, follow The Sports Encounter’s soccer coverage.
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