Al-Hilal moved three points clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League as first-half strikes from Mohamed Kanno and Salem Al Dawsari sealed a 2-0 win over Al-Ettifaq.
With Al-Nassr, who now have a game in hand and are four points adrift at the summit, not in action until Saturday, Al-Hilal took advantage with relative ease.
Simone Inzaghi’s side needed just 13 minutes to take the lead through Kanno, who, against his former club, looped a fine header from Malcom’s corner into the back of the net.
It got even better for the hosts soon after when Malcolm’s cross was spilled by visiting goalkeeper Marek Rodak, with Al Dawsari on hand to prod home in the 31st minute.
Kalidou Koulibaly came close to putting the game beyond doubt eight minutes after the restart, but his headed effort was brilliantly tipped onto the crossbar by Rodak’s fingertips.
Al-Hilal continued to push for more and had the ball in the back of the net when Kanno curled in from distance, but the goal was chalked off for offside after a VAR review.
Karim Benzema, fresh from his hat-trick on debut, should have sealed the win with 10 minutes remaining, but he uncharacteristically scuffed Malcolm’s centre wide of the mark.
Another points in the bag
Congratulations Blues pic.twitter.com/aaJ9BYckh6
— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) February 13, 2026
Data Debrief: Al Dawsari is Al-Hilal’s captain fantastic
After drawing three consecutive league games, Al-Hilal have since scored eight goals in their last two top-flight encounters, and their 16th win of the season was led by their captain, Al Dawsari.
Indeed, Al Dawsari has now scored seven league goals against Al‑Ettifaq, with no Al‑Hilal player scoring more against them in the competition. He also finished the game with team-high totals for passes in the final third (30) and successful dribbles (five).
And following their win in the reverse fixture, Al-Hilal completed a league double over their opponents for the 10th time, more than any other team has managed against them in the Pro League.
Al-Hilal were more than worthy winners here, too. They finished the match with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.7 from their 17 shots, eight of which were on target, compared to Al-Ettifaq’s 0.69 from their 10 attempts at Yassine Bounou’s net.
