RIYADH: Al-Hilal moved 13 points clear of Al-Nassr following a 7-0 home thrashing of Abha on Thursday. Their Riyadh rivals will be able to reduce the gap if they win against Ettifaq on Friday in the first of their two games in hand, but on this form Hilal look like they cannot be stopped.
A hat-trick from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic helped the Blues to an incredible 19th successive win in all competitions in what was another fine team performance.
While Brazilian megastar Neymar is out of action until at least the end of the season, coach Jorge Jesus was able to name a strong starting 11.
The first goal came after 18 minutes. Yasser Al-Shahrani crossed from the left, Aleksandar Mitrovic was wrestled to the ground and the loose ball fell to the striker’s fellow Serb, Milinkovic-Savic doing the rest.
Eight minutes later, Salem Al-Dawsari was brought down in the area and Mitrovic made no mistake from the spot for his 16th league goal of the season.
There was no coming back from that, but few expected five goals in the final 20 minutes.
Al-Dawsari got in on the act to make it 3-0. Michael squeezed past two defenders on the right side and while the Brazilian’s shot was saved, the Saudi Arabian megastar was there to prod home from the closest of ranges.
Milinkovic-Savic got his second and his team’s fourth after 79 minutes. It was a goal made in Serbia as Mitrovic crossed from the right and the midfielder fired home from a central position in the area.
Mohamed Kanno made it five with seven minutes remaining. The substitute picked up possession outside the area, cut inside, feinted and then slotted home in the coolest of fashions. It was a goal worthy of gracing any game.
The sixth was impressive too as Ruben Neves curled home a free-kick, but there was more to come as Milinkovic-Savic bagged his hat-trick as Al-Hilal took another step toward title number 19.
Elsewhere, Damac moved above Al-Ittihad into fifth with a 3-0 win over Al-Tai thanks to two goals from Farouk Chafai and Nicolae Stanciu’s late strike.
Al-Khaleej moved clear of the relegation zone and into mid-table with a 3-0 win at home to Al-Fayha. South Korean midfielder Jung Woo-young opened the scoring after 21 minutes and Khaled Narey extended the lead soon after. An own goal from Sami Al-Khaibari completed the scoring.
