Said Benrahma and Alexandre Lacazette Shine After Neom Victory

Said Benrahma walked off Al-Awwal Park with the man of the match trophy in his hands – and then gave the moment away.

Neom had just edged Al-Diriyah 2-1 in Riyadh in the twelfth round of the Saudi Roshn League, a tight contest settled by two clinical finishes from their star forwards. Benrahma struck first from the penalty spot, a composed opener that set the tone for the night and underlined why the Algerian has quickly become one of the league’s headline acts.

The award at full-time felt inevitable. His touch, his influence, his goal. The cameras followed him, the announcer called his name.

He hesitated.

Instead of holding the trophy aloft alone, Benrahma beckoned over Alexandre Lacazette – the former Arsenal captain now leading the line for Neom – and pulled him into the frame. Lacazette had scored the second, decisive goal, the strike that finally killed off Al-Diriyah’s resistance. Benrahma made it clear: this was their prize, not his.

On a different Friday, another superstar had done something similar. Cristiano Ronaldo, the Al-Nassr captain, started the trend this season when he handed his own man of the match award to team-mate Abdullah Al-Hamdan after a 3-1 win over Al-Faisaly in the eleventh round. That gesture rippled across the league, a small symbol of dressing-room unity from its biggest global name.

Now Benrahma has echoed it.

Not everyone is impressed. Saudi legend Sami Al-Jaber has already voiced his concern about the growing habit, criticising the repeated handovers after Ronaldo’s example and dismissing it as a “fashion” that must be confronted.

The debate will run: are these moments genuine acts of leadership or a performative trend? For now, what matters to Neom is simpler. Their two forwards are scoring, they are winning tight games, and their stars are sharing both the goals and the glory.