Asia’s best Al-Dawsari dazzles as Al-Hilal win again

RIYADH: Salem Al-Dawari showed why he is the Asian Player of the Year on Friday as he led Al-Hilal to a 2-0 win at Al-Fateh that puts the leaders seven points clear at the top of the Roshn Saudi League.

It was a virtuoso performance from the Saudi Arabian star even if his team were not at their best.  Al-Fateh, who would have gone second with a victory, will feel that they should have got something from the game but ultimately lacked the kind of match-winning ability that Al-Dawsari demonstrated. 

Few teams have the winning ability of Al-Hilal, the most successful club in Saudi Arabia and Asia, who have now won nine matches in a row. Ominously for a team that has yet to show their best on a consistent basis, the Blues have dropped just four points this season and Al-Dawsari looks to be finding his best form.

It took the Riyadh giants just five minutes to open the scoring. Al-Dawsari, freshly returned from Qatar with his his personal award, was full of energy and menace from the start. The winger picked up the ball on the left and raced into the area, leaving blue-shirted defenders in his wake. As he reached the byline, he was brought down by Saeed Baattia and the referee pointed to the spot.

Aleksandar Mitrovic has been deadly from that range of late and drilled a low shot into the bottom corner. The fans were treated to an increasingly familiar goal celebration. The Serbian striker is now second only to Cristiano Ronaldo in the goalscoring stakes and it is starting to look as if Al-Nassr, who host Al-Khaleej on Saturday, are the only team that have what it takes to stop the 18-time champions collecting another title. 

Al-Dawsari continued to run at defenders and to ask questions. Mitrovic was also involved in the