RIYADH: It was a night to forget for Ali Al-Bulayhi. Loaned to Al-Shabab this winter after nine years at Al-Hilal, his first game against his parent club turned into a nightmare.
Matchday 24 of the Saudi Pro League resumed at the SHG Arena with one of Riyadh’s most entertaining derbies — Al-Hilal vs Al-Shabab. While clashes with Al-Nassr attract greater anticipation, the history between Al-Hilal and Al-Shabab runs deep.
In the inaugural 2008/09 Saudi Pro League season, Al-Shabab held Al-Hilal to a dramatic 1-1 draw, with both sides scoring in stoppage time before chaos erupted. The result handed Al-Ittihad the edge in the title race, which they converted into the league crown. Al-Shabab later thrashed Al-Hilal in the King’s Cup semi-finals en route to lifting the trophy.
The landscape today looks very different. Al-Shabab have flirted with relegation for much of the season, while Al-Hilal, despite remaining in the title race, slipped to third after a poor run of form.
Yet form often counts for little in derby matches. Al-Shabab pushed Al-Nassr close in a 3-2 defeat in January before falling 5-2 to Al-Ahli a month later. For all their defensive frailties, the pairing of Yannick Carrasco and Abderrazzaq Hamed-allah remains dangerous.
It was no surprise, then, when Al-Shabab took the lead after 13 minutes. Al-Hilal’s defensive vulnerabilities were exposed as Carrasco and Saad Yaslam combined down the left, allowing Josh Brownhill a free strike inside the box that he drilled past Yassine Bounou.
With Malcom and Salem Al-Dawsari rested by Simone Inzaghi in favour of Saimon Bouabré and Sultan Mandash — and Karim Benzema absent — belief briefly grew that this could be Al-Shabab’s night.
The momentum shifted quickly. In the 19th minute, Al-Bulayhi misjudged a header from a long throw, and Mohammed Kanno pounced to volley home the equalizer past Marcelo Grohe.
More misfortune followed for the defender in the 31st minute. A cross from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic appeared routine for Grohe but was inadvertently turned into his own net by Al-Bulayhi.
Al-Shabab responded before the break. On the stroke of half-time, Carrasco released Hamed-allah into the same channel Brownhill had exploited, and the Moroccan forward turned past Kalidou Koulibaly before finishing to level the match.
The parallels continued. Both of Al-Shabab’s goals came from near-identical positions, while Al-Hilal’s third arrived in equally chaotic fashion. Another long throw caused havoc in first-half stoppage time, and Koulibaly redeemed his earlier error by forcing the ball home after a poor goal-line clearance from Al-Bulayhi.
From there, Al-Hilal took control. Winter signing Sultan Mandash made his mark three minutes into the second half, meeting Kanno’s cross with a superb first-time trivela finish to make it 4-2. Minutes later, he turned provider, setting up Marcos Leonardo for a composed fifth.
Still, Al-Shabab refused to fade. In the 75th minute, Yacine Adli’s driven cross evaded everyone and crept past Bounou to reduce the deficit to 5-3.
The visitors pushed for an unlikely comeback, but Al-Hilal held firm to secure victory, much to the relief of their supporters after dropping points in their previous two matches.
Elsewhere, Al-Ittihad continued their revival in a turbulent campaign with a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej. Danilo Pereira scored the decisive goal, tapping in from a Mahamadou Doumbia corner.
In Qassim, Al-Ettifaq travelled to face Al-Hazem as favourites and took an early lead through Koka. However, Abdulbasit Hindi handled on the line in the 17th minute — echoing Luis Suarez’s infamous intervention against Ghana at the 2010 FIFA World Cup — and was sent off.
Yousef Al-Shammari converted the resulting penalty before Fabio Martins produced a stunning long-range header that could contend for the Puskas Award. Martins later assisted Aboubacar Bah for Al-Hazem’s third in a memorable victory.
Saudi Pro League action resumes on Saturday with four matches kicking off at 10pm: Al-Fayha host Al-Nassr, Al-Najma face Al-Okhdood, Al-Qadsiah take on Al-Taawoun, and NEOM meet Al-Kholood.
