Al Hilal produced a dominant attacking display to beat hosts Al Khaleej 5-1 at Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium on Friday, with goalkeeper Yassine Bounou later denying a controversial penalty to prevent the home side from reducing the deficit.
The Saudi Pro League victory was effectively secured in a remarkable first half, as Al Hilal scored five times to move on to nine points from three matches and climb to second place. Al Khaleej remain 13th with three points.
Al Hilal made their early superiority count after 15 minutes. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic delivered a precise cross from the left and Mite met it with a powerful header that found the net.
The visitors continued to create problems through the movement of Crysencio Summerville, whose individual skill helped produce their second goal in the 29th minute. The Dutchman made an excellent run into the area before setting up Milinkovic-Savic, who finished first time.
Al Khaleej attempted to respond, with Al-Saadi testing the Al Hilal defence in the 36th minute. Two minutes later, they pulled one goal back when Crespo found himself through on goal. Bounou made an initial save, but the rebound fell to Saleh Al-Amri, who headed into the net.
Any hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished. Theo Hernandez restored Al Hilal’s two-goal advantage in the 40th minute with a powerful strike from inside the penalty area.
Summerville then capped an outstanding individual contribution with the fourth goal three minutes later. He beat Asiri with a fine piece of skill before advancing into the area and finishing when clean through on goal.
Al Hilal completed an extraordinary first-half scoring spree in the third minute of added time. Sultan Al-Mandash twisted past goalkeeper Morris and calmly placed the ball into the empty net, giving the visitors a 5-1 lead at the interval.
The away side continued to attack after the restart. Al-Mandash narrowly missed the chance to score his second when his effort in the 47th minute went just wide of the post. Summerville remained a constant threat and went close again in the 54th and 61st minutes, while Al Khaleej also threatened when Crespo’s shot was kept out by Bounou.
The most contentious moment came in the 64th minute. Bounou played a goal-kick short to Kalidou Koulibaly, who picked up the ball and handled it while attempting to reposition it, apparently believing play had not yet restarted.
The referee awarded Al Khaleej a penalty because the ball had already been in play. The decision was reviewed and upheld by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
However, Bounou made sure the incident did not lead to another Al Khaleej goal. He saved Barrow’s spot-kick, protecting Al Hilal’s advantage and keeping the score at 5-1.
Al Hilal continued to look for a sixth goal before the final whistle. Their best late opportunity fell to Summerville in added time, but his shot struck the post as the visitors settled for a convincing victory.
