Al-Hilal’s 9-0 thrashing of Al-Hazm sees Riyadh giants restore four-point lead atop SPL

RIYADH: Al-Hilal sent a message to the rest of Saudi Arabia with the biggest-ever win in the Roshn Saudi League, a 9-0 thrashing of Al-Hazm that restored their four-point lead over Al-Nassr in second. They meet next Friday, and mouths are already starting to water.

It all means that Al-Hilal are still unbeaten in the league after 14 games and have won 12 and drawn just two. It was a devastating demonstration of firepower at the home of the bottom club with goals spread throughout six players with Malcom managing a hat-trick.

It was no surprise that the first fell to Aleksandar Mitrovic after 14 minutes, and it was a real striker’s goal. Mohammed Al-Breik swung in an inviting cross from deep, and it cleared the defense and looked to be heading into the arms of goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen, but Mitrovic stretched out a leg to volley home from close range. It was the start of what was going to be a very long afternoon for the hosts.

Mohamed Kanno added a second just after the half-hour. There seemed to be little danger when the midfielder picked up possession 30 meters from goal but he let fly with a shot that flew into the top corner to extend Al-Hilal’s lead. Mohammed Al-Qahtani made it three two minutes before the break, reacting quickly to fire home the rebound after Mitrovic’s low shot had been palmed away by the Tunisian goalkeeper who was having an increasingly busy evening.

It meant that the teams headed in at the break with few fans watching in any doubt as to where the points were heading — they were going back to Riyadh, but nobody could have predicted that there were still many more goals to come.

Malcom scored twice in three minutes early after the restart. Mitrovic was involved again, slipping the ball