Riyadh Crescent and Riyadh Victory meet in a contest for the first place in the Saudi league. Both teams are favourites to win the tournament and have performed well in their first 14 league games. Riyadh Crescent is at the top of the table with 12 wins and 2 draws, while Riyadh Victory is in second place with 11 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. This head-to-head matchup is significant for the title as there is only a four-point gap between the two sides.
Riyadh Crescent had previously won 13 in a row and morale was high, and Riyadh Victory will be eager to close the gap on their opponents with this match. In this game, Riyadh Crescent extended their lead in the standings with a crucial victory thanks to home advantage. At the start of the game, Riyadh Crescent lined up in a 4231 formation, with Mitrovic leading the attacking line and Michael, Malcolm and Salem Dawasari forming a midfield attacking combination.
Riyadh Victory, on the other hand, also showed a positive attitude in the game, and despite the absence of Neymar, Riyadh Crescent's squad remained strong. In the first half, the two sides went back and forth, engaged in fierce attacks, but the quality of the shots was disappointing. Riyadh Crescent had 36 per cent possession in the first half and attempted nine shots on goal, all of which failed to score, while Riyadh Victory failed to capitalise on their chances.
In the second half, Talisca missed a chance to change the scoreline, while Riyadh Crescent took the lead thanks to Milinkovic's header. Riyadh Victory fell into a passive situation in the game and missed a number of good chances to score. Although Cristiano Ronaldo scored a late goal in the game, it was ruled offside. In the final moments, Riyadh Crescent's Aleksandar Mitrovic scored again to seal the win for his team.
The victory in this game further expanded Riyadh Crescent's advantage in the standings and became a dark horse that cannot be ignored on the road to the championship. Riyadh Crescent beat Riyadh Victory 3-0 in their latest fixture to take a seven-point lead and become the favourites to win the title. At the same time, Cristiano Ronaldo suffered a double whammy as he not only suffered a defeat for his team, but also narrowed his lead in the scorers' charts to two goals by Aleksandar Mitrovic.