Defending Champions Al Hilal Extend Unbeaten Run to 41 Games With 2-4 Away Win Against Al Kholood
Al Hilal are showing no signs of complacency this season, and they exemplified their hunger and determination with a 2-4 win away to Al Kholood, making it 41 games unbeaten. The win sees them maintain the top spot in the Saudi Pro League table with a perfect record this season: five wins in five matches.
The match against Al Kholood started tensely and almost went behind within the opening thirty minutes. Al Kholood’s Myziane Maolida rounded Al Hilal’s goalkeeper, Yassine Bono, and was set to score, but Renan Lodi made a goalline clearance to keep the match 0-0.
The close shave was a wake-up call to the Al Hilal players, who rallied at the tail-end of the first half to score three goals and put the game to bed before breaking for halftime. First up, Kalidou Koulibaly latched onto a Renan Lodi rebound in the 38th minute to make it 1-0. Then Malcom received the ball from Salem Al Dawsari, picked the far corner, and sent his curled effort to double the lead in the 42nd minute.
Finally, in the third minute of the first half’s added time, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s cross found Ali Al Bulayhi, who made no mistakes, burying it to make it 3-0. Sadly for Al Hilal, Al Bulayhi injured himself when scoring and had to be taken off.
In the second half, Al Hilal showed no signs of slowing down, and Renan Lodi, who had been hugely influential in the first half, finally got his name on the scoresheet in the 48th minute with Salem Al Dawsari assisting.
With the game secure at 4-0, Al Hilal chose to focus on slowing down and controlling the game to preserve their energies. They maintained 65% possession and were neat in their passing, with an 87% pass accuracy.
However, Al Kholood had some fighting spirit, and during a counterattack, substitute Hammam Al Hammami got on the end of fellow substitute Mohammed Sawan’s pass to score in the 71st minute.
In the closing minutes of the match, Yassine Bono fouled Jackson Muleka in the Al Hilal box, and after a lengthy VAR review, Al Kholood was awarded a penalty. William Troost-Ekong made no mistakes from the spot and slotted it into the bottom right corner to make the final score a respectable 2-4.
With this win, Al Hilal now have a perfect record this season, having won all five of their matches, including the 3-1 win over early-season title contenders Al Ittihad. Up next is an AFC Champions Leeague home match against Al Shorta on Tuesday then a trip away to 7th-placed Al Ahli Saudi on Saturday.
