Al Ahli 1-0 Al-Okhdood: Kessie scores injury time winner to keep up100% record

Former Barcelona and AC Milan star Franck Kessie chose the perfect time to score his first goal for Al-Ahli as his 96th minute winner was enough to help them beat Al-Akhdoud 1-0.

Match Report

Kessie - who moved to Saudi Arabia for £10.8million after a disappointing year with the Catalan giants - headed home after Roberto Firmino got a touch on Riyad Mahrez's cross.

Along with Kessie, Al-Ahli have strengthened with the likes of Firmino, Mahrez, Edouard Mendy, Allan Saint-Maximin and former Leeds defender Ezgjan Alioski this summer.

They started their league campaign with two 3-1 victories - against Al-Hazem and Al-Khaleej - and began the clash at the Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium well.

However, they were frustrated by a resolute Al-Akhdoud outfit and despite having more than twice the number of shots of their opponents and 67 per cent of possession, they couldn't find a way through.

Heading into 11 minutes of added time, it looked like Matthias Jaissle - who moved to the Middle East in the summer from RB Salzburg - would see his side's 100 per cent record disappear.

But Kessie had other ideas as the PIF-backed club kept up pace with reigning champions Al-Ittihad at the top of the league.

Their overall quality ultimately told and after promotion from the second tier last season, Al-Ahli will hope for a repeat of their title winning campaign in 2015-16.

Line-ups

Al Ahli XI: Firmino, Mahrez, Ezgjan Alioski, Edouard Mendy, Saint-Maximin, Kessie, Demiral, Ibanez, Sumaihan Al-Nabit, Ziyad Mubarak Al-Johani, Bassam Al-Hurayji

Subs: Ibrahim Al-Zubaidi, Abdullah Otayf, Mohammed Al-Rubaie, Ali Al-Asmari, Fahad Al-Rashidi, Mohammed Al-Majhad, Abdulbasit Hindi, Hassan Al-Ali, Fahd Al-Hamad

Al-Okhdood Club XI: Kverkvelia, Awadh Faraj, Paulo Vítor, Florin Tanase, Andrei Burca, Saeed Al-Rubaie, Ahmed Mostafa, Saleh Al-Harthi, Eid Al-Muwallad, Hussain Al-Zabdani, Masalah Al-Shaekh

Subs: Hussein Shae'an, Abdulrahman Al-Rio, Hasan Al-Habib, Sharaf Al Salim, Mohammed Al Jahif, Abdulaziz Al Hatila, Saud Salem