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• Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Milinkovic-Savic leveller keeps champions unbeaten

  Sergej Milinkovic-Savic preserved Al-Hilal's unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season as his header earned the defending champions a 1-1 draw against Al-Nassr on Friday. 

  Al-Hilal dropped their first points of the season having won their first eight games, but remained at the summit of the standings, moving one point clear of Al-Ittihad. 

  Al-Nassr found themselves in front inside two minutes when Otavio's clipped ball found Talisca, who took a touch before firing the ball beyond Yassine Bounou. 

  The first half saw clear-cut chances hard to come by, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Talisca and Mohamed Simakan seeing their efforts unable to trouble visiting goalkeeper Bounou. 

  Al-Hilal, who had scored 23 goals in their first eight games, came closest to an equaliser after the break when Salem Al Dawsari struck the woodwork. 

  But the leveller came in the 77th minute when a free-flowing move ended with Milinkovic-Savic heading the ball in off the post after being picked out by Renan Lodi's cross. 

  Both sides looked to find a winner in the closing stages, with Ali Lajami coming the closest for Al-Nassr, but the points were shared at the Al Awal Park at King Saud University. 

  Data Debrief: Champions end Ronaldo streak

  Ronaldo's run of four straight games with a goal came to an end against Al-Hilal, though he was Al-Nassr's most potent attacking threat during the encounter. 

  The Portugal captain registered a team-high 0.37 expected goals (xG) to Al-Nassr's 0.9 total, while also having the joint-most touches in the opposition box (five - level with Otavio). 

• Meulensteen cautious over Amorim appointment at Man Utd

  Rene Meulensteen sees similarities between Ruben Amorim and Erik ten Hag, so does not want to get carried away about the incoming Manchester United head coach.

  United confirmed on Friday, four days after they sacked Ten Hag, that Amorim would be coming in as their new boss.

  The 39-year-old, who has won the Portuguese title twice in the space of three years, will join United officially from November 11, after serving a notice period with Sporting CP.

  United have agreed to pay Sporting around £9.2million (€11m) in compensation, with Amorin signing a contract that will keep him at Old Trafford until June 2027.

  However, former United coach Meulensteen is able to draw plenty of comparisons between Amorim and his predecessor, and that is giving him cause for concern.

  He told Stats Perform: "I have a little bit of a careful approach.

  "I see a lot of similarities when United got excited about Ten Hag. Ajax played a good style of football, nice to watch, did really well, won the league, did really well in Europe.

  "You see the same thing with Amorim. A young manager, not that much experience. He obviously has got a clear idea how he wants to play and he's been able to make Sporting a successful team, winning two league titles, and he does well in Europe. 

  "But Portugal and the Dutch league are very similar. In [the Netherlands] you've got Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, in Portugal you've got Sporting, Benfica and Porto. That is about it and against the rest of those teams, you can just turn up and win the game.

  "You can have the best ideas and what you want and tactically and all this, but the other number one [thing] is walking into a different competition, which is the Premier League, which is the hardest league in the world.

  "He walks into a team that is not his. He walks into a team without pre-season, right? So every game straight away is playing for something, whether it's the league, the cup or in Europe. So he has to hit the ground running.

  "He has a very specific way of playing. So he needs to look at the current squad that's in there and say, which players will I be able to use to play that way? But then again the Premier League is not Portugal, and the only way to establish himself is to win games and play well."

  Amorim will be United's youngest boss since 33-year-old Wilf McGuinness took charge of them on Boxing Day 1970 against Derby County.

  Since March 2020, when Amorim took charge, Sporting have the highest win percentage of any team across Europe’s top 10 leagues (77% - 120 wins out of 156 games).

  He was of interest to Liverpool and West Ham earlier this year, but Meulensteen still warned against expecting too much, too soon.

   

  "United will probably think they need somebody with, first of all, a strong personality," he continued.

  "I think that is important. From what I hear and read about him, he has a strong personality, but that personality will only be tested in difficult times. But that is where you have to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

  "But I think it's the same reasons why United went for Ten Hag, because the stats are all weighing up. The stats are good. Plus, obviously, they've spoken to him.

  "I'm a little bit more sceptical and careful. because at the end of the day, the proof will be in the pudding. 

  "Now he comes into a team that's not his. And that takes time. That it's not like something that you can switch on straight away.

  "Every manager needs to be given 18 months before he gets to a place where he feels it's his team.

  "Sometimes, depending on the players that are there, the support that you get, it can go a bit quicker, but we have to wait and see."

  United are 14th in the Premier League after nine games, and face Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday.

  Ruud van Nistelrooy will be in charge for their next three matches, with Amorim's first game at the helm coming against Ipswich Town after the international break.

• Al Ittihad 1-0 Al Ahli: Al Shehri nets winner as Blanc's side match leaders Al Hilal

  Saleh Al Shehri scored the only goal of the game as Al Ittihad edged Jeddah rivals Al Ahli to go level on points with Saudi Pro League leaders Al Hilal. 

  Al Shehri turned in a cross from Moussa Diaby in the 42nd minute to give Laurent Blanc’s side a 1-0 lead in the derby, while Diaby was denied the chance to double that advantage in the closing stages by the woodwork. 

  Matthias Jaissle’s Al Ahli thought they had scored an equaliser through their captain Franck Kessie in the 59th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside after a VAR review. 

  Al Ahli had also gone close in the 51st minute when Ivan Toney rounded Al Ittihad goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic, but his strike was brilliantly cleared off the line by Abdulelah Al Amri. 

  Blanc’s side generated an expected goals (xG) total of 1.06 with four of their 12 efforts on target, while Al Ahli ended with an xG of 1.01 with three of their shots on target. 

  Al Ittihad have collected 24 points from nine matches - the same as defending champions Al Hilal who will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr on Friday. 

  Al Ahli, meanwhile, find themselves 13 points adrift of the summit in 11th place with just one win from their last five matches.