RIYADH: Aleksandar Mitrovic has been hailed as “merciless” by Al-Hilal manager Jorge Jesus after scoring his 10th Roshn Saudi League goal of the season and 17th in all competitions.

Mitrovic broke the deadlock with a diving header nine minutes from time in the 2-0 victory over Al-Taawoun on Friday night to extend Al-Hilal’s lead at the top of the Roshn Saudi League to seven points.

Jesus said: “Mitrovic is a big finisher. We don’t have another player (with) his characteristics in the team. Inside the box, he is merciless — he is a finisher. He has his own characteristics as a player and is very important for the squad.”

Mitrovic’s goal, set up by a whipped Malcolm free kick from the left, came after the Serbian international and former Fulham and Newcastle United striker had a first-half headed goal disallowed through VAR for a foul.

Al-Hilal, unbeaten with 35 points from 13 league games, sealed victory at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh through a stunning 25-yard Mohamed Kanno free kick in injury time.

While Al-Hilal had the vast majority of the possession against this season’s Roshn Saudi League dark horses Al-Taawoun, who drop to fourth place, Jesus was also quick to praise goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

The Moroccan goalkeeper, who starred at the FIFA World Cup 2022, produced two superb saves to stop firstly Kanno in the 53rd minute and then defender Hassan Al-Tambakti in the 72nd minute from netting own goals. The save from Kanno saw Bounou dive to his left to palm away an attempted clearing header, while the goalkeeper then spared Al-Tambakti’s blushes with an instantaneous reaction stop to his right from a sliced interception.

“Bounou was a crucial part of today’s victory,” said the Portuguese coach. “He made two very important saves that would have been own goals from two of his teammates. He had to change direction for the balls, but he was there (at) the right time.”

Al Taawoun’s Brazilian manager Pericles Chamusca, whose side played a 5-3-2 formation rather than the 4-3-3 they have more commonly used this season, said: “We played with a different formation to try and maintain a defensive block, which meant we didn’t have much possession of the ball, but we wanted to maintain balance and a defensive shape.”

Al-Hilal’s Riyadh rivals Al-Nassr, who are in second place in the Roshn Saudi League on 28 points, are next in action when they travel to Al-Wehda on Saturday night.