How it happened
Alexandre Mendy scored all three goals for Al Faisaly, the last of them in the 85th minute, to beat Al-Kholood 3-2 and give the home side only its second league win of the season.
He opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Al-Kholood answered within 12 minutes, Shaquille Riley Pinas levelling in the 19th, and Domingues put them ahead on the stroke of half-time, in the 45th.
The lead lasted only until stoppage time. Mendy equalised in the 45th minute plus four, so the sides went in level at 2-2. The second half stayed balanced until Mendy struck again in the 85th minute, and that goal decided it. There were no red cards.
The numbers
Mendy earned a match rating of 9.6, the highest on the pitch. His three goals came from an expected-goals total of 1.44 for him alone, which is most of the 1.83 Al Faisaly created as a team. He had 29 touches in 89 minutes and one key pass.
Flávio was the home side's other standout, with a match rating of 7.8, one assist and two key passes from 59 touches. For Al-Kholood, Pinas scored and rated 7.7, with two key passes and 58 touches.
Al-Kholood carried the greater overall threat on paper. They had 18 shots to 16 and 2.99 expected goals to 1.83, while Al Faisaly put six shots on target to four. Possession was almost even, 51% for the visitors and 49% for the hosts, and Al Faisaly won the corners four to two.
What it means
Going into the match, Al Faisaly were 14th with six points from eight games and a sequence of one defeat followed by two draws, another defeat and a draw. They had won once all season, and their eight goals scored were the fewest in the comparison with this opponent. Three from Mendy alone is more than a third of that tally.
Al-Kholood arrived eighth with 12 points from nine games, having won two of their last five. They were beaten despite creating the bigger chances, a result that runs against both the table and the expected-goals column.