Al-Hilal have defeated Al-Akhdoud 3-0 in the Saudi Pro League’s ninth round to remain top of the Saudi Pro League table.
After a slight dip in form during September, Al-Hilal were heavily criticised for their performances after allowing rivals Al-Ittihad to claim the top spot.
However, the Blues quickly recovered with a convincing 2-0 victory over rivals Al-Shabab last week to go top of the league table once again.
Jorge Jesus’ side capitalised on their momentum and recorded another vital win against Al-Akhdoud on Saturday to widen the gap to Al-Ittihad, who lost 1-0 to Roberto Firmino’s Al-Ahli in the derby a day earlier.
The record Asian champions were without the services of Neymar as the Brazilian reportedly travelled to his home country to deal with personal matters.
Meanwhile, Aleksandar Mitrovic started upfront with ex-Barcelona forward Malcom behind the Serbian as Michael and captain Salem Al-Dawsari occupied the wings.
It only took 10 minutes for Al-Hilal to find the breakthrough as Michael fired the Riyadh side into the lead after a quick move.
Despite missing a number of chances, the visitors were handed a boost at the stroke of half-time when Al-Akhdoud were reduced to ten men.
Saeed Al-Rubaie’s reckless challenge on Sergej-Milinkovic Savic gave the referee no choice but to send him off after a second caution.
After the break, Al-Hilal continued to dominate until they finally doubled their advantage in the 70th minute through Milinkovic-Savic.
The former Lazio midfielder was on target again minutes later to tap home on the rebound after Al-Dawsari’s missed penalty to seal a comfortable win before the international break.