Falkirk moved 11 points clear at the top of Scottish League One after beating their nearest rivals Hamilton 3-2.
The battle between the top two looked to be done and dusted after Falkirk scored three times during 12 first-half minutes.
Callumn Morrison, Ross MacIver and Calvin Miller all found the target, but Ahkeem Rose’s double either side of half-time kept Hamilton in touch.
Alloa maintained third place with a 4-1 victory over Cove Rangers thanks to goals from Taylor Steven (2), Scott Taggart and Bobby Wales, while Kyle Connell netted for Cove.
Montrose moved into the play-off spots after defeating Kelty Hearts 4-2, but they required goals during the final 13 minutes from Graham Webster and Kane Hester after Craig Johnston’s quickfire double had cancelled out first-half efforts by Blair Lyons and Andrew Steeves.
Elsewhere, Michael Ndiweni scored the winner in a 2-1 win for Annan against Stirling, and Ruairidh Adams’ stoppage-time goal secured a 1-1 draw for bottom club Edinburgh City against Queen of the South, who led through a Joel Mumbongo goal.
In League Two, Stenhousemuir remain 16 points clear despite being held to a 2-2 draw at Elgin.
Russell Dingwall’s penalty cancelled out Nat Wedderburn’s opener for Stenny before Brian Cameron put the home side in front. However, Euan O’Reilly restored parity 11 minutes into the second half.
Second-placed Peterhead fought back from three goals down to draw 3-3 at Forfar.
Russell McLean handed Forfar a 13th-minute lead and added his second of the game in first-half stoppage time after Stuart Morrison had doubled their advantage in the 37th minute.
Rory McAllister pulled a goal back for Peterhead and Flynn Duffy ensured a nervy finish, with Alfie Stewart levelling in the fifth minute of time added on.
Ayrton Sonkur netted twice in stoppage time as the Spartans denied struggling Stranraer a much-needed win with a 2-1 victory.
Tam Orr had given Stranraer a first-half lead but they have dropped to second-bottom, eight points clear of Clyde, who beat Dumbarton 2-0 at home.
Martin Rennie bagged a brace either side of the break, the second from the spot, before they had Jordan Allan sent off late on.
Goals from Brian Easton and Alan Trouten (penalty) inside the space of three minutes helped East Fife to a 2-0 win at Bonnyrigg Rose, who had Reis Peggie dismissed.
No Neymar return until 2025, says Al-Hilal boss Jesus
Neymar will not return from his anterior cruciate ligament injury until January 2025 at the earliest, Al-Hilal boss Jorge Jesus has warned.
Neymar left Paris Saint-Germain for Al-Hilal in a €90million deal in August 2023, becoming one of the faces of the Saudi Pro League's major recruitment drive.
However, he only played five matches for the club before rupturing his ACL while on international duty with Brazil last October.
The 32-year-old subsequently missed the remainder of the season as well as the Selecao's ill-fated Copa America campaign, and he remains some way away from a return.
Neymar was removed from Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League squad in September, with the 19-time champions only able to register a maximum of eight foreign players for the first half of the season.
Reports had suggested Neymar was close to a return after Al-Hilal posted footage of him training on social media, but Jesus says Brazil's all-time leading scorer must wait until the halfway point of the campaign before being considered.
"Neymar is an important player for Al Hilal and the league in general," Jesus told reporters on Tuesday.
"I can't, however, specify a date as to when he will return, but we will look at the situation in January."
With no restrictions on foreign players featuring in the AFC Champions League, Neymar could, in theory, play in that competition if he returns to fitness before January.
Al-Bukayriyah 0-1 Al-Hilal: Leonardo sends defending King's Cup champions through
Marcos Leonardo's first-half penalty was enough to book Al-Hilal a spot in the King's Cup round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Al-Bukayriyah.
The defending champions dominated from the start, with Abdullah Al Hamddan and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both seeing early efforts saved by Dziugas Bartkus.
Al Hamddan then won the game-winning spot-kick in the 40th minute, being brought down in the box by Ibrahim Al Sunaytan, and Leonardo made no mistake from 12 yards.
Al-Hilal kept pushing for another goal, with substitutes Renan Lodi and Aleksandar Mitrovic both testing Bartkus in the second half, but they could not add to the scoreline.
Neymar, who is gearing up for his return to action after a year on the sidelines, was not involved for Al-Hilal, who lead the way in the Saudi Pro League.
Data Debrief: Leonardo proves the difference
Al-Hilal were dominant in the first half, completely overwhelming their opponents as they had 12 of their 17 shots before the break, getting five of those on target.
But across the 90 minutes, it was Leonardo who was the standout, having the second-most shots (three) and accumulating 0.82 expected goals (xG).
His only shot on target may have been the winning penalty, but he proved a handful as he also had the most touches in the opposition box (10).
Al-Bukayriyah 0-1 Al-Hilal: Leonardo sends defending King Cup champions through
Marcos Leonardo's first-half penalty was enough to book Al-Hilal a spot in the King Cup round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Al-Bukayriyah.
The defending champions dominated from the start, with Abdullah Al Hamddan and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both seeing early efforts saved by Dziugas Bartkus.
Al Hamddan then won the game-winning spot-kick in the 40th minute, being brought down in the box by Ibrahim Al Sunaytan, and Leonardo made no mistake from 12 yards.
Al-Hilal kept pushing for another goal, with substitutes Renan Lodi and Aleksandar Mitrovic both testing Bartkus in the second half, but they could not add to the scoreline.
Neymar, who is gearing up for his return to action after a year on the sidelines, was not involved for Al-Hilal, who lead the way in the Saudi Pro League.
Data Debrief: Leonardo proves the difference
Al-Hilal were dominant in the first half, completely overwhelming their opponents as they had 12 of their 17 shots before the break, getting five of those on target.
But across the 90 minutes, it was Leonardo who was the standout, having the second-most shots (three) and accumulating 0.82 expected goals (xG).
His only shot on target may have been the winning penalty, but he proved a handful as he also had the most touches in the opposition box (10).
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
