Al-Hilal 2-0 Al-Riyadh: Al Dawsari leads by example in opening-day win

Al-Hilal kick-started their quest for the Saudi Pro League title with a comfortable 2-0 win over Al-Riyadh at Kingdom Arena on Friday. 

After relinquishing their crown to Al-Ittihad in 2024-25, Salem Al Dawsari led his team to victory by grabbing two assists for Simone Inzaghi during his first league game in charge. 

Darwin Nunez thought he had marked his Pro League debut with a goal in the ninth minute, only for his close-range finish to be ruled out following a foul in the build-up. 

But Al-Hilal hit the front in the 22nd minute when Moteb Al Harbi rifled the ball in at Milan Borjan's near post after he collected Al Dawsari's inch-perfect reverse pass. 

Al Dawsari then missed a glorious chance to put his team two goals in front soon after, but he was unable to find the back of the net following a neat interchange with Malcom. 

However, the pair combined in the third minute of first-half stoppage time to double Al-Hilal's lead, with Malcom picking out the bottom-left corner after Al Dawsari's clever flick. 

The hosts continued to impress after the break and came close to putting the result beyond doubt, but Nunez could only scoop Malcom's pass in behind over the crossbar. 

Data Debrief: Al Dawasari gets Inzaghi up and running

Al-Hilal ensured their unbeaten record on matchday one in the Pro League remained intact, with their victory here their 13th consecutive opening-day triumph in the top flight. 

They have also now avoided defeat in their last 14 league matches in August (W12 D2), winning the last five. Their last defeat in this month came against Al-Hilal in 2020. 

And Inzaghi's side were worthy of their win, having registered an expected goals (xG) total of two from their 15 shots compared to Al-Riyadh's 0.2 from their two shots.

But their victory was spearheaded by Al Dawasari, who ended the contest with team-high totals for chances created (three) and successful dribbles (two), while only Ruben Neves (27) played more passes in the final third than Al-Hilal's captain (25).