Al-Hilal too good for Al-Ahli

RIYADH: Al-Hilal moved five points clear at the top of the Roshn Saudi League on Friday with a 3-1 win over Al-Ahli to record a seventh victory in succession in all competitions The 18-time champions may be without Neymar for the rest of the season but looked ominous as they saw off the challenge from the star-studded visitors.

The gauntlet was thrown down to Al-Ahli and the rest of the league inside the first minute while the smoke from the pre-match flares and fireworks was still hanging in the Riyadh air. 

It was a simple goal but one full of quality. A long ball from inside the centre circle from Kalidou Koulibaly found Sergej Milinkovic-Savic inside the area and the Serbian midfielder chested it down on the run and then stabbed home from close range.

Al-Ahli showed their attacking talents with Riyad Mahrez and Allan Saint-Maximin looking dangerous but it was Al-Hilal who looked as if they were ready to extend their lead after 26 minutes.

After Malcom was deemed to have been obstructed in the area, a penalty was award and n this particular West London reunion, former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who bagged a hat-trick in Monday’s 6-0 thrashing of Mumbai City in the Asian Champions League, sent his shot a bit too close to Edouard Mendy. The ex-Chelsea goalkeeper got down well to make the save.

Yet this was not all about Al-Hilal. The visitors arrived in the capital in fifth place and in the knowledge that victory would send them into second.

Not long after the penalty,  Saint-Maximin, who had been a doubt for the game due to injury, burst free but the former Newcastle United star saw his shot blocked by Ali Al-Bulaihi.

Eight minutes before the break Mitrovic redeemed his penalty miss in magnificent