RIYADH: Al-Hilal won 5-0 win at Al-Orobah on Saturday to go top of the Saudi Pro League above Al-Ittihad, who were held to a surprise 1-1 draw at Al-Feiha.
The victory, in the first round of games as the league restarts after a month’s break, means that the champions are ahead of their Jeddah rivals on goal difference after 14 games of the season.
There was little doubt as to the outcome of the game once Ruben Neves, who returned to the Al-Hilal starting 11 after a lengthy injury lay-off, put the Riyadh giants ahead from the penalty spot after just 16 minutes.
It was one-way traffic but the Blues had to wait until three minutes after the restart to extend their lead against the newly promoted team.
Central defender Ali Al-Bulaihi has come under fire for a number of mistakes at the back but the Saudi Arabian international made no mistake as he headed home from a left-sided Sergej Milinkovic-Savic cross.
Al-Hilal kept coming. Renan Lodi made it three midway through the second half and then Marcos Leonardo added two more in quick succession to cap a perfect display for coach Jorge Jesus.
It got even better shortly after when Al-Ittihad were held to a 1-1 draw by the struggling Al-Feiha in a dramatic game.
It has been a frustrating afternoon for the Tigers who arrived looking for a 10th successive league victory, but they had only themselves to blame as they missed two penalties in the second half — the first from Karim Benzema and the second by Houssem Aouar.
They were left to rue those wasted opportunities in the first minute of injury time, as Fashion Sakala struck to put Al-Feiha in sight of what would have been only their second win of the season.
The celebrations did not last long however as just two minutes later, Fawaz Al-Sqoor equalised to earn Al-Ittihad a point that may have been disappointing on the night but could end up being crucial.
There was also a surprise defeat for Al-Qadsia who would have moved to within six points of the top had they beaten Al-Taawoun. Instead, however, they crashed to a 3-0 home defeat.
Al-Nassr stay third after their 3-1 win over Al-Okhdood while Al-Ahli are fifth after a 3-2 win over Al-Shabab, their fifth successive league victory.
