Franck Kessie scored his first goal for Al Ahli in a 1-0 win over Al Akhdoud in the Saudi Pro League on Thursday.
The Ivory Coast midfielder is among a host of high profile players that left Europe for the Arabian Gulf this summer and joined Al Ahli for €12.5 million from Spanish giants Barcelona.
Kessie was making his third straight appearance for the Royals after featuring in 3-1 victories over Al Hazem and Al-Khaleej, and broke the deadlock deep in injury time after ex-Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino nodded the ball into his path to send a pinpoint header into the back of the net.
President Kessié ???? pic.twitter.com/fVZcdq7vmZ
— Al-Ahli Saudi Club (@ALAHLI_FCEN) August 24, 2023
Kessie was not the only Africans on display at King Abdullah Sports City. Africa Cup of Nations winners Riyad Mahrez and Edouard Mendy were part of the action for the entire 90 minutes.
Also in action were ex-Newcastle United winger Allan Saint-Maximin, ex-Roma centre-back Roger Ibanez and former Leeds United left-back Ezgjan Alioski.
Al Ahli have now recorded three wins from three Saudi Pro League games this season and share maximum points with defending champions Al-Ittihad at the top of the table.
