RIYADH: Al-Hilal have closed the gap on leaders Al-Nassr lead at the top of the Saudi Pro League table to two points after beating Al-Khollod 3-1 on New Year’s Eve.

The win saw Al-Hilal leapfrog Al-Taawoun into second place they now have 29 points from 11 matches, just two behind Al-Nassr, who on Tuesday dropped their first points of the season after a 2-2 draw with Ettifaq.

Al-Hilal took the lead through Sergei Milinkovic-Savic after 45 minutes there was still enough stoppage time for Ramiro Enrique to equalize form the penalty spot. Two second half goals from Theo Hernandez secured a vital three points for Al-Hila.

Earlier in the day reigning SPL champions Al-Itttihad beat hosts Neom  3-1 to go fifth in the table and end the year on n relative high after a difficult defence of their title so far in this campaign.

Roger Fernandes opened the scoring on 14 minutes from Steven Bergwijn’s assist, but Said Benrahma equalized 13 minutes later for teams to go into the break on equal terms. 

Second half goals by Bergwijn and Ahmed Al-Ghamdi secured a morale-boosting win for Al-Ittihad.

In Wednesday’s other match, Al-Qadsiah beat hosts Al-Shabab 3-2 to stay fifth in the table.