Roberto Firmino has ended his six-month goalscoring drought, but that wasn’t enough to stop Al-Ahli from suffering their first defeat since October.
The former Liverpool striker scored from the penalty spot in Al-Ahli’s 3-2 defeat to Al-Okhdood on Friday as the Saudi Pro League got back underway following its mid-season break. Captaining his side, he completed the full 90 minutes but was unable stop the Saudi’s side’s eight-game unbeaten run from coming to an end.
Named captain of the Saudi Pro League side after joining them in the summer, Firmino enjoyed a dream start for the club as he scored a hat-trick on his debut in a 3-1 victory over Al-Hazem back in August on the opening day of the season. Yet he failed to score again during the entire first half of the campaign before the Saudi mid-season break, with such a drought lasting a whopping 18 matches.
Initially first-choice in attack, Firmino lost his place in the Al-Ahli side at the end of October following a 3-1 loss to league-leaders Al-Hilal. Losing the captaincy in the process, the Saudi side went on an eight-game unbeaten run after dropping the forward, as supporters reportedly began to turn on him and want the Brazilian sold as a result.
Winning five of those matches, and keeping seven clean sheets, the 32-year-old was limited to 94 minutes of action across seven substitute appearances.
Meanwhile, Saudi international Firas Al-Buraikan would lead the line at Firmino’s expense, registering six goals and three assists from those aforementioned eight games to take his total to the club to nine goals from 14 appearances before the Saudi Pro League restart. Having started the season with Al-Fateh, the 23-year-old now has 13 goals from 20 matches this season, while his form has helped take Al-Ahli up to third in the table.
After losing his place in the side, Firmino had found himself linked with a move away from the Saudi club with a possible Premier League return mooted. Speculation linked the Brazilian with winter moves to Chelsea and Fulham, only for neither move to materialise, while reported interest from Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq also led to nothing.
Consequently, when the Saudi transfer window closed on January 30, he found himself still at the club. For the record, it had already been reported that he had no intention of leaving Al-Ahli despite the speculation, yet that didn’t stop him again being linked with a move to Chelsea earlier this week.
Firmino reported back to training with Al-Ahli on January 15 following the Saudi Pro League’s mid-season break. And he enjoyed a respectable return in his side’s friendlies, starting all five 90-minute games and scoring in a 4-1 victory over Abha and a 2-2 draw with Al-Nasr.
While the 32-year-old might have started all five of his side’s friendlies, six of their leading players, including Al-Buraikan and Riyad Mahrez (their joint-leading goalscorers) were away on Africa Cup of Nations or Asian Cup duty.
Both leading scorers were back for the Saudi Pro League restart, with Mahrez starting on the right-wing. Al-Buraikan was limited to a 30-minute substitute appearance though with Fahad Alrashidi, who has never scored for Al-Ahli, instead selected to lead the line. Firmino was stationed in behind at number 10, having predominantly played at centre-forward for the club before losing his starting berth, with a change of role perhaps linked to his lengthy scoring drought.
The Brazilian equalised for Al-Ahli in first-half stoppage-time, making the scores 2-2 when his side were awarded a penalty. However, Leandre Tawamba’s strike on the hour-mark earned Al-Okhdood a 3-2 win to inflict a first defeat on Firmino’s side, who had Roger Ibanez sent off in the last minute, since October.
Al-Ahli remain third in the table despite the loss, but have fallen further behind Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr as they both won their first games following the restart. They trail the league-leaders by 16 points, and are nine points off the latter – who boast Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane in their squad.
Next in action away at Al-Tai on Saturday 24 February, Firmino will at least be relieved to have ended his six-month goalscoring drought. Now back in Al-Ahli’s starting XI, only time will tell if the Liverpool legend can reignite his fortunes further in the second half of the season.