Al-Fateh 2-1 Al-Ahli: Vargas´ brace deals visitors first league defeat

Matias Vargas scored twice as Al-Fateh came from behind to beat Al-Ahli 2-1 at Maydan Tamweel Aloula as Matthias Jaissle’s side suffered their first league defeat of the season.

Playing in their first match since seeing talisman Riyad Mahrez depart for the Africa Cup of Nations, Al-Ahli missed the chance to close the gap to Al-Taawoun in third place.

After seeing an earlier effort repelled by Al-Fateh goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco, Galeno played a pivotal role in helping his team open the scoring in the 22nd minute.

The Brazilian’s corner was brilliantly nodded down by Ibanez, with the ball falling to Valentin Atangana, who took a touch before picking out the bottom-left corner on the swivel.

But after going a goal down, Al-Fateh grew into the contest as Mourad Batna cut inside from the right and forced Abdulrahman Al Sanbi into action for the first time in the contest.

However, Al Sanbi could do nothing to stop Al-Fateh from restoring parity two minutes before the break. Matteo Dams’ throw-in was intercepted by Marwane Saadane, with his touch setting up Vargas to rifle a stunning first-time shot into the roof of the net.

And just two minutes after the restart, Batna’s inviting corner picked out an unmarked Vargas at the back post, and he was on hand to volley the ball past Al Sanbi.

Sofiane Bendebka then thought he had increased Al-Fateh’s lead after nodding home from inside the box, but the goal was ruled out for offside following a lengthy VAR review.

Al-Ahli continued to push to try and preserve their unbeaten record, with Matheus Goncalves’ curling 78th-minute shot sensationally tipped onto the crossbar by Pacheco, but they were unable to find a way through.

Data Debrief: Al-Fateh rediscover winning feeling

Jose Gomes’ team had endured a difficult start to the season, picking up just five points from their opening nine matches of the campaign, but they got themselves back on track here to push themselves out of the relegation zone.

But they were made to work for their win, having only been able to register an expected goals (xG) total of 0.99 from their six shots compared to Al-Ahli’s 1.66 from their 17 attempts, though only six of those were on target.

Vargas’ brilliance proved to be the difference for his team. He ended the match with team-high totals for shots (two), touches in the opposition box (three), passes in the final third (11) and attempted dribbles (three).

Al-Fateh have also now won their last three home league matches against Jeddah-based teams, doing so for the first time since between January 2012 and April 2013.