Source: Alamy Stock Photo

Al-Hilal Refuses to Surrender, While Al-Nassr Crushes Al-Okhdood

Al-Hilal refused to surrender in the Saudi Pro League title race, keeping their hopes of retaining the crown alive with a commanding 4–0 win over visitors Al-Orobah in the final fixture of Matchday 31, a round that also witnessed a staggering 9–0 victory for Al-Nassr over hosts Al-Okhdood.

With this result, Al-Hilal raised their tally to 68 points, maintaining a six-point gap behind leaders Al-Ittihad, who had defeated Al-Fayha 3–0 on Sunday. Al-Nassr, meanwhile, climbed to 63 points in third place, despite being without Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.

It was Al-Hilal’s second consecutive win under interim coach Mohammed Al-Shalhoub, who stepped in following the dismissal of Portuguese manager Jorge Jesus last weekend due to a string of poor results. Al-Shalhoub had previously guided the reigning champions to a 5–3 win over Al-Raed in his debut match.

Highlights of the Matches

At Kingdom Arena, Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrović opened the scoring for Al-Hilal with a powerful finish off a pinpoint cross from captain Salem Al-Dawsari (28’).

Early in the second half, Al-Orobah’s defender Ibrahim Al-Zubaidi was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Brazilian winger Malcom (47’), leaving the visitors with ten men. Al-Hilal quickly capitalized on their numerical advantage as Al-Dawsari doubled the lead with a composed finish following a clever assist from Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinković-Savić (65’).

The hosts were awarded a penalty late in the game, which was converted by Brazilian midfielder Cayo César (90’), who then added his second and Al-Hilal’s fourth just two minutes later after being set up by Malcom (90+2’).

Over at Prince Hathloul bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium, Al-Nassr ran riot against Al-Okhdood, delivering a 9–0 thrashing in a match that saw the hosts reduced to ten men. Brazilian goalkeeper Paulo Victor was sent off for a foul on Colombian striker Jhon Durán (47’), who scored twice (20’, 52’).

Senegalese star Sadio Mané stole the spotlight in Ronaldo’s absence, notching a super hat-trick (45+6 pen, 59’, 64’, 74’). The rest of the damage was done by Ayman Yahya (16’), Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozović (27’), and Mohammed Maran (90+4 pen).

Al-Nassr took the lead when a defensive blunder allowed Durán to set up Yahya for a tidy finish (16’). Moments later, Yahya returned the favor with an assist for Durán to make it 2–0 (20’). Brozović added a third after seizing on another defensive lapse (27’).

Mané made it 4–0 from the penalty spot deep into first-half stoppage time after Nawaf Boushal was fouled by Saeed Al-Rubaie (45+6).

Just minutes into the second half, Paulo Victor was shown red, and Durán netted his second after a sharp pass from Otávio (52’). Mané completed his hat-trick with assists from Yahya (59’) and Boushal (64’), then added his fourth from yet another Boushal pass (74’).

Maran wrapped up the demolition job by converting a stoppage-time penalty (90+4’), sealing an unforgettable night for Al-Nassr.