Yannick Carrasco Shines in Riyadh’s Mini Clasico
Yannick Carrasco lit up Riyadh’s mini Clasico, tore it to pieces, and then signed his name across the night.
Al-Shabab did not just beat Al-Ahli at the SHG Arena. They dismantled them, 6-1, in a statement win in the 12th round of the Saudi Roshn League. At the heart of it all stood the Belgian winger, playing as if the occasion belonged to him alone.
Carrasco takes control
The warning came early. Al-Shabab were sharp, direct, and ruthless on the break, and when Carrasco stood over a free-kick in the 26th minute, the sense of danger was obvious. He made it look simple.
A measured run-up. A whip of that left foot. The ball curled over the wall and beyond young substitute goalkeeper Abdullah Abdo, who could only watch it fly past him. It was Al-Shabab’s second of the night and Carrasco’s first, but the gulf in class was already clear.
Al-Ahli never recovered.
They chased shadows, and Carrasco dictated the angles. Every time he picked up the ball, the SHG Arena seemed to lean forward.
A creator, then a finisher
The pressure did not ease after the break. Three minutes into the second half, Carrasco turned provider.
Drifting wide, he sized up his options and delivered a teasing cross into the area. Ricardo Matias attacked it, rose above his marker, and nodded in Al-Shabab’s fourth. Simple finish, devastating delivery. The Brazilian got the goal; the Belgian pulled the strings.
Al-Ahli’s back line, already stretched, began to fray. Tackles arrived late. Decisions turned desperate.
On 66 minutes, the punishment grew harsher. Colombian striker Roger Martinez drove into the box and drew a foul from Mohamed Suleiman Bakr. The referee pointed to the spot. Carrasco claimed the ball.
He waited, stared down Abdo, then rolled the penalty home with authority. That made it his second of the night and Al-Shabab’s fifth. By then, the contest had become a showcase.
Historic hat-trick sealed from the spot
Al-Ahli’s torment was not over. Bakr, already rattled, lunged in again in the 82nd minute, this time on Carrasco himself. Another penalty. Another chance.
Same taker. Same outcome.
Carrasco stepped up, stayed ice-cold, and tucked away Al-Shabab’s sixth goal to complete his hat-trick. A historic treble, carved out in a rivalry that rarely forgives weakness.
The numbers underline the scale of it. According to Opta, this was Carrasco’s second hat-trick in the Saudi Roshn League, adding to the one he scored against Al-Riyadh last February. He also became only the second player to hit a hat-trick in the mini Clasico between Al-Ahli and Al-Shabab since the 2009-2010 season, following Mohamed Benyettou’s treble for “the Lions” in September 2016.
Elite company, in a fixture that remembers its heroes.
Into the scoring race
By the final whistle, Carrasco’s night read like a complete performance: three goals, one assist, and a defence in ruins. His haul takes him to six goals in the Saudi Roshn League this season, hauling him up towards the sharp end of the scoring chart.
The race at the top remains fierce. Al-Ahli’s own England striker, Ivan Toney, still leads the way with 13 goals. But nights like this shift the conversation.
If Carrasco keeps striking like this in Riyadh, that gap will not feel safe for long.
