Ittihad stroll past Hilal in top of the table showdown

JEDDAH: Al-Ittihad took a big step toward the Saudi Pro League (SPL) title on Saturday with a 4-1 win over Al-Hilal in the long-awaited top of the table clash.
The victory in Jeddah puts the Tigers seven points clear of their Riyadh rivals with 13 games of the season remaining.
The defeat means that Al-Hilal, who strolled to a record 19th championship in 2024, have won just once in their last five games and are struggling to keep pace with Ittihad who have tasted victory in 15 of their last 17 league games.
Despite the convincing defeat that came in the end, Al-Hilal took the lead midway through the first half. João Cancelo whipped over a wicked ball from the right and there was Marcos Leonardo to poke it home at the near post for a real poacher’s goal.

On the half hour however, Al-Ittihad were back on level terms. Moussa Diaby, who continued his great form of late, swung over a corner kick from the right for Hassan Kadesh to head home.
It got better for the Jeddah giants just before the break as Steven Bergwijn put them ahead. Karim Benzema slipped a pass wide for Diaby and the former Aston Villa star sent over a perfect cross for Bergwijn to head home at the second attempt after Yassine Bounou in goal had blocked the first.
The Dutchman was on target once more six minutes after the restart. N’Golo Kante broke down the right and the former Chelsea midfielder pulled the ball back for Bergwijn to bundle home from close range.
Al-Hilal pushed forward but fell further behind four minutes from the end and in spectacular fashion too. Diaby’s corner from the right landed in the left side of the box and there was Karim Benzema to volley his 16th goal of the league season to move level with Cristiano Ronaldo on the top of the individual rankings.
The bigger prize is, however, that Al-Ittihad now have a comfortable cushion over their title rivals and are looking very good indeed.