KHOBAR: Al-Hazem were mere centimeters away from causing the shock of the season when, in the 84th minute, Ahmed Al-Shamrani was sent through on goal behind the Al-Hilal defense. The pass from Aboubacar Bah was perfectly weighted, beating the offside trap and placing Al-Shamrani in a perfect position in front of Yassine Bounou. The winger lobbed the ball over his adversary, only for his effort to go narrowly wide of the post
Minutes later, Gabriel Martinelli delivered the dagger. It was not the usual suspects — Ollie Watkins, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic or Mohammed Kanno — who rose to Mohammed Mahzari’s cross, but the Brazilian winger. In the 89th minute, Martinelli ended Al-Hilal’s prolonged search for a goal as Kingdom Arena erupted into celebration with his header.
The encounter began with a heavy onslaught by Al-Hilal, with Al-Hazem goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek forced into a fingertip save in the sixth minute before Martinelli struck the crossbar moments later. The movement of Al-Hilal’s front three seemed like it was going to torment the Al-Hazem back five, but Jalel Kaderi's side stood firm for a majority of the game.
Al-Hazem’s 5-4-1 prevented the hosts from finding breathing room in the midfield, but it did not prevent Al-Hilal from finding their chances. In fact, Al-Hazem rarely made any forays into attack, with a lone transition midway through the first half their only threat toward goal. Meanwhile, Al-Hilal were using everything in their arsenal to keep their spot at the top of the table, but two saves from Stanek in the 40th minute left them frustrated.
First, Kanno’s header released Kalidou Koulibaly in front of the keeper, only for the Senegalese defender’s effort to strike the shoulder of Stanek on its way over the bar. In the following corner, Kanno’s shot was punched away by the Czech goalkeeper, leaving the sides level at the half.
Al-Hilal thought they had found their winner in the 66th minute when Martinelli released Watkins with a low cross for the Englishman to tap in. However, a VAR review followed, and Watkins was deemed offside.
Simone Inzaghi only made his first substitutions in the 76th minute, but it was around that time that Al-Hazem saw an opening to expose the spaces behind Al-Hilal’s defense as they moved further forward in search of a winner. The aforementioned Al-Shamrani chance was Al-Hazem's best effort, and it was unlikely they were going to strike gold again. Ultimately, Al-Hilal managed to steal the victory in the final moments.
After the goal, Martinelli went off to an ovation, but it was the return of club icon Salem Al-Dawsari that saw the fans' cheers get louder, as made his way onto the pitch for the first time since his injury after the World Cup.
Elsewhere, Artem Bondarenko emerged the unlikely hero for Al-Ahli in the absence of Ivan Toney, who missed their fixture against Al-Fayha due to injury. On a night where Al-Ahli struggled against the relegation-battling side, Bondarenko scored twice to deliver the three points.
Al-Fayha found themselves in the lead on the brink of half-time when Hugo Moura drove through the Al-Ahli midfield to launch a strike from range, which Al-Ahli goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi had no chance of saving. Minutes later, before the half-time whistle, Bondarenko headed in the equalizer after a well-placed cross from left-back Saad Balobaid.
Al-Ahli took the lead in the second half through a Feras Al-Brikan penalty, but Jason responded with a stunning free-kick in the 65th minute to bring parity between the two sides once again. That did not last long, as Bondarenko saw an opening in the box after a scramble, poking the ball into the net to seal a 3-2 victory for the visitors.
Meanwhile, Alexandre Mendy was the hero for Al-Faisaly once again as his 79th minute goal brought them a point against Al-Shabab to keep them out of the relegation zone. After his hat-trick led the club to their first victory of the season on Thursday, his goal completed Al-Faisaly’s comeback against Al-Shabab, who found themselves 2-0 up inside the first half hour after a brace from Josh Brownhill. Andrei Girotto’s header brought Al-Faisaly back in the game in the 43rd minute, before Mendy’s equalizer made it 2-2.
Matchday 10 action continues on Tuesday with four games: Diriyah host Al-Riyadh at 6 p.m., before Al-Taawoun face Al-Qadsiah at 6:10 p.m. Two matches take place at 9 p.m. to conclude the matchday, with Al-Nassr hosting NEOM while Al-Ittihad travel to Dammam to face Al-Ettifaq.