Al Khaleej End Al Hilal 46-Game Unbeaten Run in Five Goal Thriller
A brace from Abdullah Al Salam and a late goal from Fabio Martins were enough to hand Al Hilal their first defeat since May 2022. Al Khaleej emerged as the winner at Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium on Saturday and delivered a result that might shape the title race.
It was fitting that Al Hilal’s first defeat in over two years came at the hands of their former gaffer, Georgios Donis, who delivered a tactical comeback that saw high-flying Al Khaleej play fearlessly and triumph in a 3-2 victory. Al Hilal started the match on the offensive in the 12th minute when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic fed Leonardo, who made no mistake in putting Al Hilal ahead.
In the 37th minute, team captain Salem Al Dawsari crossed the ball for Aleksandar Mitrović to slot home. This was Mitrović’s 12th goal of the season. The defending champions looked set to collect yet another routine victory, but Donis’s men had other ideas. On the brink of halftime, Kalidou Koulibaly committed a foul that led to a penalty call. Konstantinos Fortounis stepped up to take it, but Yassine Bono denied him, only for Abdullah Al Salam to latch onto the rebound and keep the game within reach at 2-1 heading into halftime.
Al Salam, the highest-scoring Saudi player in the Saudi Pro League this season, latched onto Khaled Narey’s pass and scored in the 47th minute to restore parity. This was his third consecutive brace and his seventh goal of the 2024-25 SPL season.
In the 85th minute, Fabio Martins completed the comeback with a tap-in after excellent work from Narey. Al Khaleej have now won four of their last four SPL matches and sit in 6th place. Al Hilal’s loss meant that they lost their top spot to Al Ittihad, who are now leading the charts with 30 points, two more than Al Hilal.