Al-Hilal 2-1 Al-Fateh: Nunez and Neves fire 10-man hosts to clinical comeback victory

Darwin Nunez and Ruben Neves were on target for 10-man Al-Hilal as they completed a clinical turnaround to seal all three points in a 2-1 win over Al-Fateh on Saturday.

The visitors took an unlikely lead after nine minutes at Kingdom Arena when Neves slid in on Mourad Batna inside the box, with the referee awarding a penalty following a VAR review.

Batna made no mistake from 12 yards, coolly dinking his effort straight down the middle and past a diving Yassine Bounou.

Nunez dragged the hosts level in the 26th minute after latching on to Kalidou Koulibaly’s throughball before smartly rounding Al-Fateh goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco and tapping the ball into an open net.

Al-Hilal were dealt a heavy blow in the 79th minute when Nasser Al Dawsari was shown a straight red card following a VAR review for a mistimed sliding tackle on Matias Vargas.

But the hosts continued their search for a winner and were handed a golden chance late on as Salem Al Dawsari was brought down inside the box by Sattam Al Tumbukti, with Neves calmly slotting home the resulting penalty to complete the comeback.

The victory sees second-placed Al-Hilal move within one point of Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Nassr, while Al-Fateh are in the drop zone in 16th place.

Data Debrief: Hosts continue comeback trend

Al-Hilal have won 10 points from losing positions in the Saudi Pro League this season – more than any other team.

Al-Fateh, meanwhile, are winless in their last three matches and have now lost five points from winning positions in the league this season. Only Al-Kholood (six) have lost more.

Simone Inzaghi's side were dominant from the off on Saturday, producing 2.62 expected goals (xG) to Al-Fateh's 0.96 xG.

And indeed, it was Nunez who kicked off their fightback with the equaliser. The former Liverpool striker finished with two shots, one on target, and had two big chances at a match-high individual xG of 1.02.