MW16 In Focus: Legends past, present shine; joy at Al Fateh; Firmino the Liverpool light | OneFootball

Matchweek 16 is in the books, with the first half of the inaugural Legends Week proving a huge hit, while Karim Benzema, Marcos Leonardo and Julian Quinones are firing the top three clubs.

Meanwhile, at the other end, the battle to avoid the drop is incredibly bunched. Here we highlight some of the main talking points from a fabulous round of Roshn Saudi League action.

Legends Week gets off to strong start

The first of two matchweeks in the newly launched SPL Legends Week saw home teams celebrate their iconic players who created history, with fans from Dammam to Jeddah sharing their appreciation for the men who shaped the legacy of their respective clubs.

At the EGO Stadium on the east coast, the Al Ettifaq faithful welcomed back Khalil Al Zayani, widely considered the greatest Saudi coach of all time, a man who led them to win the top division title unbeaten in 1982-83 - they became the nation’s first "Invincibles" - and went on to guide Saudi Arabia to their first-ever AFC Asian Cup triumph in 1984.

Alongside him, two mainstays of the Green Falcons, Saleh Khalifa and Abdullah Saleh; the former too a winner of the 1984 Asian Cup and the latter a member of the side that represented Saudi Arabia in their debut appearance at a FIFA World Cup, in the USA in 1994.

An hour’s drive away at Al Ahsa, Al Fateh inaugurated their legends’ virtual museum featuring displays and memorabilia from the 2012-13 RSL winning squad icons, including the likes of Elton Jose and Salomo Doris.

Across the Kingdom in Jeddah, 42,000 fans celebrated legends of Al Ittihad, including two-time AFC Champions League-winning captain Mohammed Noor, former club captain and one of Saudi Arabia’s most capped players of all-time, Ahmed Jamil, as well as legends of the 1960s and '70s sides, such as Saeed Ghurab and Ahmed Bakur.

Three’s company in race for golden boot

With the title race growing ever more exciting by the matchweek, it is mirrored somewhat by the contest to conclude the season as the 2024-25 RSL top scorer. Heading into this round, Aleksandar Mitrovic stood out in front, his 12 goals still unmatched despite him missing the past three matches with injury.

Then, on Tuesday, Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a brace for Al Nassr at Al Khaleej to edge top on 13 goals, meaning he is firmly on course to retain the golden boot he clinched last season in record-breaking fashion.

The Portuguese superstar won’t have it all his own way, though, especially with Benzema continuing his stellar campaign with Al Ittihad’s winner against Al Shabab on Wednesday. A former Ream Madrid teammate of Ronaldo’s, the Frenchman now has 12 league goals.

Add to that the trio on nine in Al Taawoun’s Musa Barrow, Al Hilal forward Leonardo and Quinones of Al Qadsiah, and the battle for individual honours promises many twists and turns before the season is out.

Leonardo and Quinones are RSL super signings

The latter two mentioned above enjoyed superb showings in Matchweek 16. On Tuesday, Leonardo opened the scoring in Al Hilal’s 4-1 victory at home to Al Wehda, the winger-cum-striker finding the net for the fourth RSL match in a row.

Allied with his hat-trick in the previous round, Leonardo now has an astonishing seven goals across that quartet of games. And all of this in his debut season following the Brazilian’s move from Benfica last September. How well the 21-year-old has done, too, in filling in for Mitrovic.

For sure, Leonardo has company when it comes to incredible debut campaigns in the Kingdom. On Wednesday, Quinones’ double for Al Qadsiah saw off Al Orobah in Al Jouf, the 2-0 win meaning the promoted side regained third spot.

It also continued Quinones’ hot streak. The Mexico international, recruited last summer from Club America in his homeland, has netted two braces in his past three RSL appearances.

Of course, there’s competition for the tag of best summer signing – step forward, for example, Al Ittihad duo Moussa Diaby and Steven Bergwijn – but, in Leonardo and Quinones, the Saudi top flight has a couple of absolute stars.

Firmino wins battle of Liverpool greats

Fans of the English Premier League leaders would have perhaps been paying a little more attention to proceedings in Dammam on Monday night, where Al Ettifaq hosted Al Ahli.

The match had a distinct Liverpool-legend feel, with Al Ettifaq managed by arguably the Anfield club’s greatest-ever player, Steven Gerrard. His current captain just so happens to be Georginio Wijnaldum, an integral member of Jurgen Klopp’s all-conquering side from the not-too-distant past.

The visitors to the east coast boasted one of those, also, with Roberto Firmino wearing the armband now at Al Ahli. And it was the Brazilian who came up trumps at the EGO Stadium, scoring the winner in a hard-fought 2-1 triumph for the away side. The result kept Al Ahli three points off the top four, in fifth.

On the other side, Wijnaldum did net late on to give Al Ettifaq brief hope of nicking a point, but as it was, his team stay 11th – level on points with 10-placed Damac, and four off the top half of the table.

No doubt, Gerrard and Wijnaldum would’ve been pleased to welcome an old friend to their home. It was just that Firmino had the final say at their expense, in a meeting of true Liverpool greats.

Al Fateh finally give fans reason to cheer

After 13 league matches - 10 of which were defeats - a change of manager and the nadir of a 9-0 loss last time out, Al Fateh finally got back to winning ways.

On Wednesday, the Al Ahsa club’s struggle looked set to sustain, when Nicolae Stanciu struck to give Damac the lead at Al Fateh Club Stadium. With 20 minutes of normal time remaining, the hosts’ outlook did not look good.

However, to their immense credit, Al Fateh rallied. Within nine minutes, Soufiane Bendebka had equalised from the spot, paving the way for an extraordinary last-gasp victory.

Deep into a prolonged period of injury-time, via another spot-kick, Al Fateh stalwart Mourad Batna kept his cool to send his teammates, staff and the club’s support wild in celebration. With it, the Jose Gomes era had a launchpad from which to build.

Seemingly cut adrift at the foot of the table, Al Fateh are now only three points from Al Wehda in 17th and five from safety. With the scrap at the bottom so tight, they’ve breathed life back into their survival bid.