Roberto Firmino finally ends six-month goalscoring drought but it comes at a cost for Liverpool legend

Roberto Firmino has ended his six-month goalscoring drought, but that wasn’t enough to stop Al-Ahli from suffering their first defeat since October.

The former Liverpool striker scored from the penalty spot in Al-Ahli’s 3-2 defeat to Al-Okhdood on Friday as the Saudi Pro League got back underway following its mid-season break. Captaining his side, he completed the full 90 minutes but was unable stop the Saudi’s side's eight-game unbeaten run from coming to an end.

Named captain of the Saudi Pro League side after joining them in the summer, Firmino enjoyed a dream start for the club as he scored a hat-trick on his debut in a 3-1 victory over Al-Hazem back in August on the opening day of the season. Yet he failed to score again during the entire first half of the campaign before the Saudi mid-season break, with such a drought lasting a whopping 18 matches.

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Initially first-choice in attack, Firmino lost his place in the Al-Ahli side at the end of October following a 3-1 loss to league-leaders Al-Hilal. Losing the captaincy in the process, the Saudi side went on an eight-game unbeaten run after dropping the forward, as supporters reportedly began to turn on him and want the Brazilian sold as a result.

Winning five of those matches, and keeping seven clean sheets, the 32-year-old was limited to 94 minutes of action across seven substitute appearances.

Meanwhile, Saudi international Firas Al-Buraikan would lead the line at Firmino’s expense, registering six goals and three assists from those aforementioned eight games to