Al-Riyadh 0-3 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic double sends hosts top

Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice late on to secure Al-Hilal a 3-0 win over Al-Riyadh, sending them top of the Saudi Pro League on Saturday.

Salem Al-Dawsari orchestrated the victory though, scoring one and assisting both of Mitrovic’s goals, while Marcos Leonardo was denied a strike of his own.

Al-Hilal dominated the first half, managing 10 shots as they smothered the hosts, but they could not find a breakthrough, only testing Milan Borjan twice.

Both sides moved through the gears in the second half though, with Ibrahim Bayesh rifling a powerful effort against the woodwork minutes after the break for the hosts.

Al-Dawsari found a way through shortly after – he made a sensational run down the left before cutting inside and dinking a lovely shot over Borjan and in off the far post.

Leonardo ran off the back of Al-Riyadh’s defence and scored a chip of his own, only to have the goal ruled out as he started his run too early.

Mitrovic made sure of the three points after 80 minutes as he slotted in from a tight angle and got his second in the 100th minute to round off a good day for Al-Hilal.

MITRO adds the third pic.twitter.com/bGBIPuPpET

— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) September 14, 2024

Data Debrief: Al-Dawsari steals the show

After struggling to find their shooting boots in the first half, Al-Hilal can be thankful for their left-winger, who caused all sorts of problems for Al-Riyadh.

He had the most touches in the opposition box (seven), and created the most chances (four), while only Ruben Neves (27) made more passes than him in the final third (22).