5 talking points from Matchday 4 of Saudi Pro League

LONDON: The Saudi Pro League season is starting to take shape, with reigning champions Al-Nassr and fellow Riyadh giants Al-Hilal leading the way, just as they did last season.

Here are five things we learned from the latest round of matches:

Al-Nassr the comeback kings

How do you beat Al-Nassr? This is a team that does not know when they are defeated.

The champions have been perfect, with 12 points from a possible 12. That does not tell the full story, however, as once again they had to come from behind to win, this time 2-1 against Al-Taawoun.

Just three days after finding themselves two goals and a man down at Ettifaq, before eventually winning 3-2, Ange Postecoglou’s men were a goal down early on.

But there was no panic. The home team heaped the pressure on the visitors and new signing Samu Costa leveled on the stroke of halftime. Then it was Cristiano Ronaldo who got the winner. The megastar had made headlines for being substituted at halftime in the previous game but then popped up to secure another three points for Al-Nassr and it was all smiles once more.

Devastating Hilal swap Benzema for Watkins

With 12 goals in three games and a 5-1 win at Al-Khaleej, Hilal are looking very dangerous in attack. All five came before the break and coach Simone Inzaghi was delighted that there were five separate scorers.

Ivory Coast teenager Mohamed Kader Meite opened his account for the season. Also notable was Crysencio Summerville getting on the scoresheet for the first time since his big move from West Ham.

Going forward the Blues look very good indeed, even if the defense is not yet quite at the same level, though Yassine Bounou’s penalty save was world class. But the philosophy seems to be that Hilal know they