Looking Back: When Al Khaleej rocked record-breakers Al Hilal | OneFootball

It remains one of the upset results of the Roshn Saudi League season.

Al Hilal, the recording-setting Saudi Arabian champions, were riding a never-seen-before 46-match unbeaten run in the competition.

During that period, which saw them lift the RSL crown and the King’s Cup too, they had strung together 34 consecutive wins – a sequence so sublime it was recognised by Guinness as a world record. Al Hilal were top of the RSL once more, a second successive championship trophy theirs to lose.

But, on November 23 at Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium, they came unstuck.

Led by former Al Hilal manager Georgios Donis, Al Khaleej triumphed 3-2. As the first half wound to a close, the hosts were actually 2-0 down, Marcos Leonardo and Aleksandar Mitrovic profiting from assists by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Salem Al Dawsari - yet another display of Al Hilal’s formidable firepower.

However, Abdullah Al Salem halved the deficit right on half-time, pouncing on Yassine Bono’s repelling of Konstantinos Fortounis' penalty. Two minutes after the interval, Al Salem had another.

From seemingly out of nowhere, the in-form Saudi striker had pegged back the title-holders. It marked his third consecutive brace in the league, drawing him alongside Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo in joint-third in the 2024-25 scoring charts.

Then, five minutes from time, Fabio Martins met Khaled Narey’s cross to tap home, sending the majority of the 17,000-plus in attendance wild in celebration. Al Hilal, their record run halted, departed Dammam stunned.

What made it all the more remarkable was the weight of history confronting Al Khaleej; in their previous 14 league encounters against Al Hilal, they had collected a solitary point.

Yet here, and against the odds, they had all three. Not only that, they inflicted Al Hilal’s first RSL defeat since May 2022, a loss that dated some 550 days back. Having reeled off nine wins and a draw from their opening 10 league games of the 2024-25 season, they had finally fallen.

What’s more, the very next night, they dropped from the top of the table, replaced by Al Ittihad. While the two teams have traded places since, with seven rounds of the 2024-25 remaining, it is the Jeddah club who sit at the summit.

It all adds another layer of intrigue as Al Hilal’s rivalry with Al Khaleej reconvenes on Thursday. Avenging that reverse five months ago is not just needed for personal pride, but it feels imperative if Jorge Jesus’ side are to overcome the seven-point gap to Al Ittihad.

On a run of three wins from nine in the RSL, the champions are searching for a lift. The added motivation engendered by Matchweek 11's surprise defeat, though, could just reignite their quest to hold onto the trophy.