A header from Aleksandar Mitrovic and a Salem Al-Dawsari brace inspired Al-Hilal to a 4-0 away victory over Al-Raed on Thursday.
Al-Hilal were hoping to have Neymar in the travelling squad for the encounter but the Brazilian is still recovering from a slight injury he suffered during his time at Paris-Saint Germain.
The Riyadh giants still had enough firepower in their squad as other major acquisitions Aleksandar Mitrovic and Yassine Bounou both made the starting lineup after they were declared fit for the game.
Head coach Jorge Jesus also started with a reliable midfield pairing of Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinković-Savić as Salem Al-Dawsari and Brazil’s Michael occupied the wings.
The game had an unlikely start as Al-Raed pushed forward and exploited Al-Hilal’s high backline with long through balls in the opening minutes.
Al-Raed had a number of clear-cut opportunities in the first half and were always a threat in transitions, but the home side could not find the finishing touch.
On the other hand, Al-Hilal managed to get a foothold in the game after finding the breakthrough just three minutes before the end of the first half.
A sublime ball by Ruben Neves found an unmarked Aleksandar Mitrovic to score a powerful header on his debut for Al-Hilal and give them a vital lead going into half-time.
The hosts were still in the game and nearly scored the leveller after the restart but Oumar Gonzalez’s header rattled the bar in the 51st minute.
Yassine Bounou was called into action a minute later to pull off an outstanding save and maintain Al-Hilal’s narrow lead.
Al-Hilal finally established a two-goal lead near the hour mark as they were awarded a penalty for a handball inside the box as Salem Al-Dawsari slotted home from the spot to score their second of the evening.
Al-Dawsari later completed his brace after 69 minutes as he pounced on a loose ball with a low drive that took a deflection on its way in.
Both sides were reduced to ten men as Sergej Milinković-Savić and Oumar Gonzalez were shown a red card for misconduct.
Despite that, second-half substitute Abdullah Al-Hamdan made an instant impact after coming on to net his side’s fourth to secure all three points.