RIYADH: Al-Hilal defeated Al-Raed 3-2 on Saturday despite being a goal down with 88 minutes on the clock.
The late, late show in Riyadh means that Jorge Jesus and his men are just two points behind leaders Al-Ittihad as the Saudi Pro League takes a month’s break.
If thoughts had strayed to Real Madrid after the draw for the FIFA Club World Cup on Thursday, the visitors ensured that Al-Hilal endured a frustrating evening at home, in a game that they dominated but were unable to make that superiority count — until the 114th minute.
The champions and their fans were shocked in the seventh minute as Karim El Berkaoui put the visitors ahead. It was a well-worked goal.
Mohammed Al-Dossari fired a low cross in from the right, and there was the Moroccan to get in front of Hassan Tambakti to steer the ball past Yassine Bounou. It was to be their last attempt on target for the next 70 minutes.
The hosts pushed for the equalizer but had to wait until just before the break to get back on level terms. It was a goal worth waiting for, however. Malcom looked up just outside the area and chipped over a perfect cross towards the far post for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. There was still work for the Serbian midfielder to do but his looping header was perfect, flying over the goalkeeper into the opposite top corner of the Al-Raed goal.
Al-Hilal continued to lay siege to the goal but just couldn’t find a way through and then, incredibly, Al-Raed restored their lead with 12 minutes remaining. Yahya Sunbul burst into the right side of the area and then shot across the diving Bounou to find the target and stun the home crowd once more.
Al-Hilal drew level once more with two minutes of normal time remaining thanks to Marcos Leonardo, who headed a Joao Cancelo cross emphatically home.
Still the hosts came forward and the winning goal came in the 114th minute, with defender Ali Al-Bulaihi sending the fans wild as he headed home a corner.
Earlier in the day, Gini Wijnaldum relieved the pressure on Steven Gerrard as the former Liverpool midfielder scored the decisive goal in Ettifaq’s 2-1 win, a first in 10 league games.
Al-Ahli beat Al-Taawoun 4-2 to move into fifth.
Al-Hilal leave it late in spectacular win
https://arab.news/jmb2r
Al-Hilal leave it late in spectacular win
- The visitors ensured that Al-Hilal endured a frustrating evening at home
- The champions and their fans were shocked in the seventh minute as Karim El Berkaoui put the visitors ahead
Jokic-inspired Nuggets stun Thunder, Knicks down Celtics
- The towering three-time NBA Most Valuable Player finished with 22 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal in addition to his 42-point tally
- Brunson — the 40-point hero of New York’s series-clinching win over Detroit last week — was once again in superb form as the Knicks climbed out of a 72-52 hole in the third quarter to snatch Game 1 at the TD Garden
LOS ANGELES: Aaron Gordon scored a last-gasp three-pointer and Nikola Jokic produced a 42-point masterpiece as the Denver Nuggets stunned the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder 121-119 in a dramatic NBA Western Conference semifinal series opener on Monday.
Nuggets forward Gordon drained a 25-foot effort from outside the arc with four seconds remaining to snatch victory against a Thunder lineup who had led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder continued to lead by double digits for much of the fourth quarter, but saw their advantage evaporate after 18 points from Serbian star Jokic in the final frame.
The towering three-time NBA Most Valuable Player finished with 22 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal in addition to his 42-point tally.
Oklahoma City were left ruing two missed free throws from forward Chet Holmgren with 10 seconds remaining with his team defending a slender 119-118 lead.
Those misses proved costly, with Denver rebounding and launching the final offensive raid that ended with Gordon’s winning three-pointer.
Denver interim coach David Adelman paid tribute to the all-round effectiveness of Gordon, who finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
“I’m looking at ball-handling, responsibilities, leadership — he is a Denver Nugget, the soul of our team,” Adelman said. “So cool to see him have a moment like that.”
Gordon said the Nuggets’ calmness under pressure had helped them close out the win.
“A lot of guys stepped up,” he said. “We had poise and a belief that we were going to win no matter the circumstances.”
Gordon and Jokic were backed by 21 points from Jamal Murray and 18 points from Russell Westbrook.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 33 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, with Alex Caruso scoring 20 off the bench after shooting five three-pointers.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series takes place on Wednesday.
In the Eastern Conference semifinals, a pulsating battle in Boston saw the New York Knicks dig deep to edge past the reigning champion Celtics 108-105 after Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby scored 29 points apiece for New York.
Brunson — the 40-point hero of New York’s series-clinching win over Detroit last week — was once again in superb form as the Knicks climbed out of a 72-52 hole in the third quarter to snatch Game 1 at the TD Garden.
Brunson’s 29 points included five-of-nine from three-point range, with Anunoby pouring in six three-pointers in his 29-point haul.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum led Boston’s scoring with 23 points apiece on a miserable shooting night for the Celtics, who missed 45 three-point attempts — the most ever missed threes in a playoff game.
“It was a great team win,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
“We started well, then we fell into a hole and then we fought our way out and then we made tough plays down the stretch,” Thibodeau added.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said lax defense in the second half cost his team dearly.
“We left some of their good shooters open,” Mazzulla said. “There’s detail stuff that we have to be better at.”
Brown, who shot only seven-of-20 from the field and made only one-of-10 attempted three-pointers, said the Celtics would not get hung up on their wayward shooting night as they prepare for game two in Boston on Wednesday.
“We had a historic night of missed three-pointers,” Brown acknowledged. “We’ll take a look and kind of see what the energy was.
“In reality you’ve got to have a short-term memory — throw it away and get ready for game two.
“We don’t have time to let stuff carry over.”
Jannik Sinner all set for Rome Open after doping ban
- Sinner was welcomed back to action on Monday by thousands of fans who watched his first training session at the tournament on center court at the Foro Italico
- Sinner: I’m very happy, happy to be back here. It has been a very long, long three months
MILAN: Jannik Sinner is the star of the show at the upcoming Rome Open as the world No. 1 and Italian tennis hero gears up for his return to the courts after a contested doping ban.
Away from the game since agreeing a suspension with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in February, Sinner was welcomed back to action on Monday by thousands of fans who watched his first training session at the tournament on center court at the Foro Italico.
Such is the interest in Sinner, who has become a national hero in Italy since rising to the top of the men’s game, that Sky Sport broadcast the practice match with world No. 38 Jiri Lehecka live on television.
All eyes will be on the 23-year-old as he hasn’t swung a racket since retaining his Australian Open title in January, a victory which took his Grand Slam tally to three.
“I’m very happy, happy to be back here. It has been a very long, long three months,” Sinner told reporters in a packed conference room inside the center court.
Fans in Rome have waited two years to see Sinner play their clay court tournament after he missed last year’s edition, won by Alexander Zverev, with injury.
It is on a surface which is not his favorite and his rustiness was clear to see on Monday.
Only one of Sinner’s 19 titles has come on clay, in Umag back in 2022, the same year as his best result in Rome, a quarter-final exit at the hands of beaten finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.
However he does have some time before he finally takes to the court, his status as the top-ranked player on the men’s tour allowing him a bye into the second round which starts on Friday.
Sinner has been fortunate that none of his rivals took advantage of his enforced pause, with second-ranked Zverev still almost 2,000 points behind the man who beat him in the Australian Open final.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz is yet to arrive in Rome after withdrawing from the Madrid Open while Novak Djokovic will have to wait a bit longer for his 100th ATP title after deciding to sit out a tournament he has won six times.
Sinner is eyeing a run at the French Open, the second Slam of the season which follows the Rome tournament.
“My objective is Roland Garros, I’m here to see what level I’m at,” said Sinner.
“I’m not here to beat whoever, but to get past the second round and then see what happens.”
Sinner’s rise to the top of the game in 2024, when he won eight titles including his first two Slams and the ATP Finals, was dogged by the controversy which followed his two positive tests for traces of clostebol in March last year.
He said last month he hit “rock bottom” at the most recent Australian Open, saying he felt like other players “looked at me differently.”
Sinner was aggrieved as he feels he did nothing wrong, and WADA said explicitly he “did not intend to cheat,” accepting he was contaminated by his physiotherapist using a spray containing the banned substance to treat a cut before providing a massage.
Regardless, he also had to accept the three-month ban offered by WADA, rather than risk being forced out of tennis for two years just as he became the dominant force in men’s tennis.
“I didn’t want to do it in the beginning. It was a bit not easy for me to accept it because I know what really happened,” said Sinner.
“But sometimes you have to choose the best in a very bad moment. And that’s what we did. It’s all over now, so I’m happy to play again.”
Milan clinch 2-1 win with two quick-fire goals in rainy Genoa clash
- The result keep Milan at ninth place with 57 points, six points behind fourth-placed Juventus
- Milan completed the turnaround when Genoa midfielder Frendrup, attempting to clear a short cross, inadvertently tapped the ball into his own net
GENOA: AC Milan secured a 2-1 victory over Genoa in a rainy Monday Serie A clash, with a rapid second-half turnaround driven by Rafael Leao’s equalizer and an own goal from Morten Frendrup.
The result keep Milan at ninth place with 57 points, six points behind fourth-placed Juventus, who occupy the last Champions League spot, with three rounds remaining.
With crucial back-to-back clashes against Bologna looming — first in the league followed by the Coppa Italia final — Milan appeared passive for much of the match, lacking urgency and creativity until a late surge turned the tide.
“We always try to improve. We work on individual and group levels. We work a lot,” Milan manager Sergio Conceicao told reporters.
“The players responded well, which shows we have a group that believes in what we do at Milanello (Milan training ground). I’m pleased with that.”
Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan was the stand out performer in a first half largely dominated by Genoa, making several crucial saves to keep his side level at the break.
Milan began to find their rhythm late in the first half and nearly took the lead just before the break, but Christian Pulisic was denied at point-blank range by a sharp save from Genoa keeper Nicola Leali.
The second half started in a largely uninspired fashion, with the relentless downpour proving more consistent than the football, as play was frequently halted for injury treatments.
Vitinha, introduced only a minute earlier, made an instant impact in the 61st minute, drifting into space inside the box and smashing home a perfectly delivered cross with his first touch to put Genoa in front.
Quick turnaround
A fortunate equalizer from Leao came in the 76th minute, when a low cross from the byline by Santiago Gimenez wrong-footed the Genoa defense and found the Portuguese forward unmarked in the box; his shot took a deflection off Genoa’s Brooke Norton-Cuffy before nestling in the net to level the score.
Less than two minutes later, Milan completed the turnaround when Genoa midfielder Frendrup, attempting to clear a short cross, inadvertently tapped the ball into his own net.
In stoppage time, Milan nearly added a third when Leao fired a powerful effort that Leali was forced to parry away from danger.
“In terms of our game plan, we could’ve done better in possession during the first half. We played against a tough team on a tough pitch. Credit to the opponent — but we could have looked for depth more,” Conceicao said.
“On the goal we conceded, collectively, we could have done more.”
Nottingham Forest draws at Crystal Palace as Champions League hopes fade
- A win at Selhurst Park would have brought them equal with Chelsea and Newcastle but one point means it stays in sixth
LONDON: Nottingham Forest drew with Crystal Palace 1-1 in the Premier League on Monday and saw its Champions League hopes fade.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s men have spent most of the year in the league top three but a run of one win in four has dropped them behind Chelsea, Newcastle and a resurgent Manchester City.
A win at Selhurst Park would have brought them equal with Chelsea and Newcastle but one point means it stays in sixth, with the top five qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Neither team was able to take control of a sometimes scrappy match that saw eight names go in the referee’s book.
Palace took the lead with a penalty kick after an hour. After a video review, Matz Sels was adjudged to have felled Tyrick Mitchell and Eberechi Eze made no mistake from the spot.
Forest bounced right back within four minutes, Murillo doing enough to deflect a goal-bound shot from Neco Williams away from the keeper.
Eze hitting the woodwork in the dying seconds and Eddie Nketiah having a goal disallowed for offside in stoppage time meant FA Cup finalist Palace has not won any of its last five league games.
Minister of Sport receives 2025 AFC Elite Champions League winners Al-Ahli
- Prince Abdulaziz congratulated the Al-Ahli players and management on their victory over Japan’s Kawasaki
- Prince Abdulaziz expressed his admiration at the outstanding performances delivered by the team over the course of the tournament
JEDDAH: Minister of Sport Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal received the 2025 AFC Elite Champions League winners Al-Ahli at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah and congratulated them on their victory over Japan’s Kawasaki.
The reception was also attended by Assistant Minister of Sport Abdulilah bin Saad Al-Dalak, President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation Yasser Al-Misehal, and several ministry officials and leaders.
Prince Abdulaziz expressed his admiration at the outstanding performances delivered by the Al-Ahli players over the course of the tournament. He also praised the players’ commitment, competiveness and cohesiveness, which paved the way for ultimate victory.
