RIYADH: Al-Hilal are still undefeated in the Saudi Pro League this season after a 3-0 victory over Al-Hazem on Matchday 31. Yet as the all-important Capital Derby on May 12 against Al-Nassr approaches, concerns are growing within the Al-Hilal camp over the team’s style of play.
Despite the win, Al-Hilal were outplayed by the hosts for large portions of the match.
Karim Benzema opened the scoring, converting from close range after a corner from Ruben Neves was flicked on by Mohammad Kanno. The Frenchman made no mistake, finishing into an empty net in the ninth minute.
After taking the lead, Al-Hilal sat back, allowing Al-Hazem to grow into the game. They relied on wingers Malcom and Salem Al-Dawsari to lead attacks on the counter.
For Al-Hilal fans, this has become an uncomfortable sight, with Simone Inzaghi’s approach showing a shift away from the club’s traditional attacking style.
The space conceded by Al-Hilal allowed Al-Hazem to build with greater confidence and threaten an equaliser in the second half.
Most notably, the hosts had a triple chance in the 50th minute that Al-Hilal did well to survive. Yassine Bounou produced two quick saves from Fabio Martins and Omar Al-Somah before Martins’ follow-up was cleared by Neves for a corner.
Al-Hilal looked to respond on the counter, but Al-Hazem goalkeeper Ibrahim Zaeid managed to keep out their most dangerous chance in the 54th minute.
A triple substitution followed in the 65th minute, with Marcos Leonardo, Abdulkarim Darisi and Sultan Mandash coming on for Karim Benzema, Salem Al-Dawsari and Moteb Al-Harbi.
The changes had an immediate effect. Leonardo struck the post before Mandash powered the ball into the net in the 70th minute, only for VAR to rule the goal out for offside against the Brazilian.
The pair combined again in the 82nd minute to extend Al-Hilal’s lead. Mandash delivered a low cross on the counter that found Leonardo, who convered for his 13th league goal of the season.
Al-Hilal sealed the victory in the third minute of stoppage time, when Neves converted a penalty after Kanno was brought down in the box by Aboubacar Bah.
Al-Hilal move onto 74 points, reducing the gap to leaders Al-Nassr to just five points. They face Al-Khaleej on Tuesday before their highly anticipated clash with the league leaders.
Elsewhere on the night, Al-Fateh and Neom played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in Al-Hasa, with Mourad Batna and Sofiane Bendebka scoring second-half goals for the hosts. Meanwhile, Damac’s relegation struggles continued as they fell to a 2-0 home defeat to Al-Khaleej.
Matchday 31 on Sunday features Al-Shabab, who host Al-Taawoun at 7 p.m., before three of the top four sides kick off at 9 p.m. Third-placed Al-Ahli host relegation-battling Al-Okhdood in Jeddah, as Al-Nassr travel to Dammam to meet fourth-placed Al-Qadsiah.
