Al Hilal Extend Their Lead At The Saudi Pro League Summit To Nine Points After Saudi Clasico Win
Al Hilal sealed their comeback against Al Ittihad with an emphatic win that now puts them nine points clear of the nearest title contenders, Al Nassr, who stumbled to a draw earlier on match week 22.
World Cup winner and former Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante opened the scoring for Al Ittihad in the 12 minute when he pounced on Zakaria Hawsawi’s cross and headed into the net. It was the culmination of Al Ittihad’s strong start to the game, but unfortunately, the visitors could not sustain the pressure on the league leaders.
Missing Aleksandar Mitrovic through suspension, Al Hilal barely looked like their top scorer was absent. With six minutes left to the end of the first half, homegrown talent Saleh Al Shehri stepped into the Mitrovic-sized boots, capitalized on a loose ball in the box, and got Al Hilal back into the game.
In the second half, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic gave the 17,210 fans in the stadium a moment of team brilliance that got them on their feet. First, he dribbled past N’Golo Kante, played one-touch passes with Salem Al Dawsari, then brilliantly looped a cross that found Malcom, who made no mistake when diving to head the ball into the net, making it 2-1 for the hosts.
Milinkovic-Savic once again created through a defense-splitting pass that found Saud Abdulhamid, who got past two defenders and slotted home to seal the victory for Al Hilal. With two Saudis on the scoresheet, the league leaders’ reliance on homegrown talent to deliver a crucial victory is a promising moment that signals the future of Saudi football.
