Yannick Carrasco Stars in Al-Shabab's 6-1 Victory Over Al-Ahli
On a hot Riyadh night, Yannick Carrasco turned a local grudge match into his personal showcase.
Al-Shabab demolished Al-Ahli 6-1 at SHG Arena in the twelfth round of the Saudi Roshn League, and every thread of the story ran through the Belgian winger. This was billed as a mini Clasico. It ended as a one-man masterclass.
Carrasco didn’t just shine. He dominated. Three goals, one assist, and a performance that left Al-Ahli chasing shadows and the home crowd roaring with every touch.
The tone was set midway through the first half. With Al-Shabab already in front, Carrasco stepped up over a free-kick in the 26th minute and bent it past young substitute goalkeeper Abdullah Abdo, the ball curling away and in with ruthless precision. One swing of his left boot, and the gap in class was laid bare.
Al-Ahli never recovered.
The second half began, and any faint hope of a comeback disappeared almost immediately. Three minutes after the restart, Carrasco drifted into space on the flank and picked his moment. His cross begged to be finished, and Brazilian striker Ricardo Matias obliged, rising to nod in Al-Shabab’s fourth. The assist looked simple. The timing and weight were anything but.
By then, Al-Shabab were enjoying themselves. Al-Ahli were just trying to survive.
The pressure told again in the 66th minute. Colombian forward Roger Martinez drove into the box and drew a foul from defender Mohamed Suleiman Bakr. The referee pointed to the spot. Carrasco took responsibility. One short run-up, one cool strike, and the scoreline read 5-1. His second of the night, Al-Shabab’s fifth, and the sense that this was turning into something historic.
Bakr’s ordeal wasn’t over. In the 82nd minute, he brought down Carrasco himself inside the area. Same penalty spot, same taker, same outcome. The Belgian tucked away his third, Al-Shabab’s sixth, and completed a hat-trick that will live long in club folklore.
The numbers underline the scale of it. Opta confirmed it as Carrasco’s second treble in the Saudi Roshn League, after his hat-trick against Al-Riyadh last February. He also etched his name deeper into the fixture’s history, becoming only the second player to score a hat-trick in the mini Clasico between Al-Ahli and Al-Shabab since the 2009-2010 season, following Mohamed Benyettou’s feat for “the Lions” in September 2016.
This wasn’t just about records, though. It was about a star player grabbing a big occasion and bending it to his will.
Carrasco’s haul lifts him to six league goals this season, dragging him into the conversation near the top of the scoring chart. The race is still led by England’s Ivan Toney, Al-Ahli’s marquee striker, who sits on 13 goals. But nights like this shift the landscape.
If Carrasco keeps playing with this kind of edge and efficiency, the chase for the Golden Boot in the Roshn League may yet take on a very different look.
