Explosive Start to the Season for Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad
Malcom scored a hat-trick in Al-Hilal’s 3-1 win over Abha in the Blues’ opening game of the Roshn Saudi League season.
On this data, the club might not even require Neymar.
Brazilian Malcom, signed from Zenit St. Petersburg in July, scored once in the first half and twice in the second to give the Riyadh giants a three-point lead in their quest to reclaim the crown.
Elsewhere, champions Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Raed 3-0.
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Coach Jorge Jesus of Al-Hilal was without stars such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Salem Al-Dawsari, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, yet his team took the lead after 30 minutes. Abdullah Al-Hamdan found Nasser Al-Dawsari on the left side of the box, and the midfielder squared the ball to Malcom, who slotted in with the goalie probably a bit too far off his line.
The hosts, on the other hand, were level within two minutes. The visitors were dispossessed deep within their own half, and from 25 yards out, Saad Bguir fired an unstoppable shot into the top of the Al-Hilal goal.
After the break, Al-Hilal advanced a level, with Ruben Neves beginning to pull the strings in the midfield. Mohammed Al-Breik passed to Malcom from the right side ten minutes in, and the Brazilian twisted in the area and fired a low shot that crawled between the hands of the diving Devis Epassy.
There was little the Cameroonian international could have done 13 minutes from time as Al-Hilal secured the victory. The Blues passed the ball around on the perimeter of the box and supplied Malcom on the left side of the box, who teed himself up with his first touch and then struck a low shot into the opposite bottom corner with his second.
If Al-Hilal had a strong start to the season, Al-Ittihad’s quality eventually paid out against Al-Raed, with all three goals coming in the second half.
With N’Golo Kante and Fabinho lining up in midfield, the two having recently joined from Chelsea and Liverpool, and Karim Benzema, Abderrazak Hamdallah, Romarinho, and Igor Coronado supplying offensive talent, it was no surprise that Al-Ittihad made the majority of the running.
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The Jeddah giants had two-thirds of the possession but couldn’t break through Ahmad Al-Harbi’s goal. Karim Benzema and Romarinho came close, while the hosts had a goal disallowed for offside.
After the break, the Tigers began to roar. At Al-Harbi, Hamdallah headed a Kante cross, but as it came back to him, he was on the ground and could only direct the ball wide of the post.
Just before the hour, last season’s leading scorer made no mistake. Benzema was set up by Fabinho’s tackle in the center circle. The FIFA Ballon d’Or winner found Hamdallah on the left and he cut inside the area, evading two defenders’ challenges, and then smashed a shot into the net, leaving Al-Harbi with little chance.
Al-Raed almost immediately responded, but Abdullah Al-Fahad’s close-range shot from a free-kick came back off the crossbar.
Coronado, like Hamdallah, cut inside from the left and then curled a shot into the top corner from just inside the area to give the champions an 18-minute lead. Soon then, the game was done. Coronado made no mistake after Kante’s powerful strike from the outskirts of the area was parried.
Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal have taken off.
