Riyadh: Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was the hero as Al-Hilal came from behind to win 2-1 at Al-Shabab on Saturday and move to within two points of Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Ittihad.
It was a dramatic Riyadh derby in which both teams were reduced to 10 men, but thanks to the intervention of the Serbian midfielder, who scored both goals, a poor week for the champions ended on a winning note.
They feared the worst in the sixth minute when Abderrazak Hamdallah struck to put Al-Shabab ahead. Daniel Podence broke down the right and his looping cross eluded three defenders to find the Moroccan forward in space and he was able to beat the diving Yassine Bounou for his fifth goal of the season.
Just eight minutes later however, Al-Hilal were level. This time it was Joao Cancelo who supplied the — more delicate — cross from the right and there was Milinkovic-Savic to nod home from close range.
Hamdallah looked to have restored Shabab’s lead just after the half hour but the goal was ruled out for offside. A minute before the break however, Al-Hilal were reduced to 10 men as former Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly was shown a straight red for bringing down Hamdallah as he was bearing down on goal.
The one-man advantage did not last long as two yellow cards in the first 15 minutes of the second half led to Nader Al-Sharari being dismissed and Al-Shabab reduced to 10 men.
Two minutes after the hour, Al-Hilal were ahead. Milinkovic-Savic lined up a free-kick just next to the “D” and then curled the ball over the wall perfectly and into the top corner.
After throwing away a 2-0 lead a week earlier to lose 3-2 to Al-Khaleej, Al-Hilal held on to this one to move to 31 points from 12 games, two behind Al-Ittihad who, earlier in the day, won 4-0 at Ettifaq.
