Al Hilal Survives Early Scare To Extend World Record Winning Streak in Seven-Goal Thriller Against Al Shabab
Al Hilal survived an early scare in their match against Al Shabab, threatening to end their world-record winning streak. It was a display of attacking prowess, resilience, and luck that entertained, ending in a 3-4 victory for the league leaders.
Al Hilal has now gone on a 30-match winning streak, but it did not always look like this would be the case during the Al Shabab encounter. A perfect start from the home side saw Musab Aljuwayr scored in the third minute. On loan from Al Hilal, Musab acknowledged his goal with a muted celebration out of respect for his parent club. Within the first quarter of the match, Al Hilal had the opportunity to respond and took full advantage. Aleksandar Mitrovic made no mistake in the 20th minute when he stepped up to the plate to convert from the spot after winning a penalty.
Seven minutes later, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic set up Mitrovic for his second of the game, which only required a simple tap-in. The league leaders were getting into their groove and made it 1-3 in the 42nd minute when Milinkovic-Savic scored the goal to ensure Al Hilal went into half fully in control of the match.
In the second half, Al Hilal picked up where they left off with a counterattack that ended with Salem Al Dawsari slotting it home to make it 1-4. Al Shabab had enough fighting spirit to keep the game interesting despite Al Hilal’s 3-goal cushion. In the 64th minute, a moment of individual brilliance from Hussain Al Sibyani saw him go past four players before slotting it into the bottom corner.
In the 78th minute, Romain Saiss injected hope into the veins of the Al Shabab players with a well-taken free kick from 35 yards that sailed into the top corner. With the momentum firmly in favor of the hosts, a late effort by Nawaf Al Saadi beat the goalkeeper only to hit the crossbar. The chance to end the winning streak and finish the match 4-4 fizzled away as Al Hilal secured the victory and kept their 12-point lead at the top of the table.
