Winners and losers from Saudi Pro League as Sadio Mane struggles to find form

Off the field, the Saudi Pro League continues to make headlines, with Neymar's arrival in the Middle East taking centre-stage over the past few days. On the field, though, some dramatic storylines are already beginning to play out after just two rounds of fixtures.

From Al-Nassr's disappointing start to the season to newly-promoted Al-Ahli proving to be the league's great entertainers, those new to the league are certainly getting plenty to talk about even while more new faces are linked with transfers ahead of the September 20 deadline.

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the second round of Saudi Pro League action...

WINNER: Steven Gerrard

It has been a dream start for Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard as his Al-Ettifaq have secured maximum points from their opening two games after backing up their victory over Al-Nassr with a 2-0 win over Al-Hazm.

The ex-Rangers manager seems to have managed to put together a cohesive team faster than other new managers in the league, and the confidence among his players appears to be sky high at the moment.

An away match at Al-Hilal is beginning to appear on the horizon, but if they can go into that having kept up their 100 percent start to the season, then Gerrard will believe his team can be title-challengers in 2023-24.

LOSER: Cristiano Ronaldo

Al-Nassr's opening-day defeat to Al-Ettifaq was blamed in part on the wealth of players who were missing from the line up for last season's runners-up. Only Sadio Mane of the club's summer arrivals was available while Cristiano Ronaldo was also missing having picked up an injury just 48 hours earlier in the final of the Arab Club Champions Cup.

So when the five-time Ballon d'Or winner returned to the line up alongside the likes of Marcelo Brozovic and Seko Fofana, it was presumed that Friday's home opener against Al-Taawoun would be far more straightforward. It was not to be, however.

Ronaldo spent more time arguing with the referee in the 2-0 loss than affecting the game as Al-Nassr became one of just four teams to have suffered defeat in both of their opening two games, leaving them six points adrift of their biggest title rivals already.

Ronaldo tried to get the home fans going as the game began to slip away in the second half, but he was instead greeted with a round of 'Messi, Messi' chants from the visiting supporters as the Portuguese suffered a night to forget on his first league outing of the campaign.

WINNER: Riyad Mahrez

Controversy over the captain's armband continues at Al-Ahli, but Riyad Mahrez showed that all the talk of him being overlooked was not going to affect his game as he proved the difference-maker in his side's 3-1 win over Al-Khaleej.

With opening-day hat-trick hero Roberto Firmino ruled out with a minor injury, it was Franck Kessie who was named captain for Thursday's game, despite Mahrez being a multiple Premier League title-winner, Champions League winner and one of the biggest names in Arab football.

Any disappointment didn't show, however, as Mahrez shone down the right-hand side, netting his side's second goal as Matthias Jaissle's newly-promoted team made it two wins from two to begin the campaign.

Mahrez's link-up play with Allan Saint-Maximin was particularly impressive, and with Firmino to come back into the line up, Al-Ahli certainly have a front three that all in the league will be fearing.

WINNER: Ezgjan Alioski

Ex-Leeds United wideman Ezgjan Alioski did not feature for Al-Ahli as they earned promotion back to the Pro League last season, instead spending the campaign out on loan at Fenerbahce, but has returned to the club for 2023-24.

There were plenty, though, who believed the North Macedonia international may drop out of the line up or even be sold to make way for a higher-profile name during the summer. If his display against Al-Khaleej was anything to go by, however, then Alioski will be doing nowhere.

Playing at left-back, he was superb in both an attacking and defensive sense on Thursday, and it was his cross that found Roger Ibanez to head in the game's opening goal. If he can maintain this form, he has the chance to be one of the star foreign imports in 2023-24.

LOSER: Sadio Mane

While most of the headlines around Al-Nassr's second-straight defeat focused on Ronaldo, it is perhaps his fellow big-name attacker, Sadio Mane, who is key to the team belatedly kick-starting their season.

New Al-Nassr boss Luis Castro seemingly isn't sure where best to use the ex-Liverpool and Bayern Munich man, having started him on the left-hand side against Al-Taawoun, before moving him to the right and then, eventually, asking him to play centrally alongside Ronaldo.

The uncertainty around Mane's role caused the Senegal international to cut a frustrated figure as he struggled to get into the game. Clarity is needed, therefore, if we are to see Mane from his time at Anfield, rather than the shadow of himself that he was during his season at Bayern.

WINNER: Abdulquddus Atiah

Abdulquddus Atiah was not the most popular player at Al-Wehda last season. The goalkeeper was criticized on numerous occasions during the 2022-23 campaign for his poor performances, while his eye-catching afro hairstyle also led to him being singled out by supporters.

Atiah, it seems, is keen to avoid a repeat this time around, and he was the star of the show as his side ran out 3-1 winners over Al-Shabab as he saved two penalties in the game.

First, he kept out former Argentina midfielder Ever Banega's spot-kick with the scores at 0-0 before stepping up again to save from Habib Diallo in the 89th minute as Al-Shabab threatened a comeback. What a performance!