Al-Qadsiah left it as late as possible to claim all three points against NEOM at Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium in Round 22, winning 1-0 through a 90th-minute Nahitan Nández goal. Brendan Rodgers' side controlled the match comprehensively — 62% possession, 521 passes to NEOM's 324, and 446 accurate passes at an 85% completion rate — yet the scoreline barely reflected that dominance until the final whistle.
The disconnect between Al-Qadsiah's control and their attacking output was stark. Despite generating 10 shots with 9 from inside the box, they managed just 1 on target — a 10% shot accuracy figure that will concern Rodgers. They won 10 corners to NEOM's 2 and delivered 9 successful crosses from 29 attempts, creating a steady stream of service into dangerous areas. But the final touch was consistently missing, with 6 shots drifting off target and the woodwork denying them once. Al-Qadsiah's aerial supremacy was overwhelming at 82% to 18%, winning 23 aerial duels to NEOM's 5, suggesting the quality of chances was there — the finishing was not.
At the other end, NEOM demonstrated that defensive resilience alone can keep a team in any match. Despite being outpossessed and outpassed, Christophe Galtier's side put 7 of their 9 shots on target — a clinical 77% accuracy rate that kept Koen Casteels occupied with 7 saves, the joint-highest individual contribution in the match. NEOM's 32 clearances and 50 recoveries (more than Al-Qadsiah's 46) showed their defensive structure was organized, even if the overall possession deficit meant they were under sustained pressure for much of the 90 minutes. NEOM's long passing accuracy of just 18% (10 of 54) underlined how difficult they found it to build from the back.
The decisive moment came in the 90th minute when Waleed Al-Ahmed delivered the assist and Nahitan Nández applied the finish to break NEOM's resistance at the death. Al-Ahmed earned the match's highest rating at 9.5, with Nández recording 7.8 for his goal. Gastón Álvarez (8.2) and Nacho Fernández (8.2) anchored Al-Qadsiah's defence throughout, while Casteels' 7.7 rating reflected the volume of saves he was called upon to make. The 4 yellow cards for Al-Qadsiah hinted at growing frustration as the goalless stalemate persisted.
Al-Qadsiah's underlying numbers — 62% possession, 85% pass accuracy, 82% aerial duel success, and 9 shots from inside the box — suggest a team that thoroughly controlled the match but lacked the cutting edge to convert dominance into goals sooner. NEOM's 77% shot accuracy on the counter was a warning sign that this result could easily have gone the other way. These figures represent a single-match sample, but Al-Qadsiah's finishing inefficiency under Rodgers is a recurring pattern worth monitoring as the season progresses.