Al-Ittihad 0-2 Al-Hilal: Leonardo on target to help extend winning run to six games

Al-Hilal moved up to third in the Saudi Pro League after defeating Al-Ittihad 2-0 at Alinma Bank Stadium at King Abdullah Sport City.

An own goal from Mahamadou Doumbia and a poacher's finish from Marcos Leonardo, either side of half-time, saw Al-Hilal extend their winning run in all competitions to six games, while Al-Ittihad have now failed to win any of their last three matches in the league.

Leonardo almost made a breakthrough inside the first 10 minutes, but his strike crashed against the woodwork shortly before Moussa Diaby failed to convert two quickfire chances for the hosts.

Al-Hilal took the lead just before the break from a set-piece. Ruben Neves' corner was flicked on by Darwin Nunez at the near post, and the Uruguayan's header was directed past Hamed Al Shanqiti by Doumbia.

And Neves was involved again for the visitors' second in the 57th minute after his initial long shot was parried by the goalkeeper, and Leonardo reacted quickest to poke the ball home and double his side's advantage.

Nunez thought he had scored a third for Al-Hilal in the final 10 minutes, but the linesman promptly raised his flag for offside, while Karim Benzema saw two late efforts go wide of either post as Al-Ittihad failed to mount a comeback.

Al-Hilal leapfrogged Al-Ahli in the table, after Matthias Jaissle's side had moved above them with a 1-0 win over Al-Najma on Thursday.

Data Debrief: 500 up for Al-Hilal

Despite registering fewer shots in the match, Al-Hilal created the better chances. They produced 1.72 expected goals (xG) from 11 shots while Al-Ittihad accumulated 0.83 from 15 attempts.

Al-Hilal also became the first Saudi Pro League side to score 500 away goals in the competition. Marcos Leonardo's strike took their tally to 501, 57 more than any other team.

Sergio Conceicao, meanwhile, became the first Al-Ittihad manager to go winless in his first two league matches since Slaven Bilic in October 2018 (excluding interim coaches) after a 1-1 draw against Al-Fayha in his first game in charge.