No ex-Benfica man, King's Cup celebrated at Al Hilal - Al Kholood | OneFootball

Al Hilal won the Saudi King’s Cup again this Friday, claiming the trophy for the third time in the last four years. Rúben Neves’ side, with the midfielder starting, beat Al Kholood 2-1 in the final, played in Jeddah. Darwin Núñez was not part of the celebrations - and is looking for a return to Europe.

Despite the dominance of the Saudi league runners-up, it was Al Kholood who took the lead first. Four minutes were enough for Ramiro Enrique to get ahead of the defence and, with a low shot, beat Yassine Bono to open the scoring. Al Hilal grew into the game and that pressure paid off just before half-time. In the 42nd minute, Malcom worked the ball down the right, crossed it in, Sawlan cleared it, but the ball fell to Nasser Al-Dawsari, who equalised. Then, in stoppage time, the ball broke to the edge of the box and Theo Hernández appeared to fire home a low shot for the comeback goal, the Frenchman’s ninth of the season.

Despite trailing, Al Kholood created little to no danger in the second half, with Al Hilal managing their lead well almost until the end. Only in the final minutes did the side behind begin to threaten Al Hilal’s goal consistently, but they could not find an equaliser before the final whistle, which sparked the celebrations at King Abdullah Sports City.

Al Hilal won the trophy for the 10th time and extended their lead at the top of the competition’s list of winners, now with two more cups than Al Ahli, who are next. As well as adding another trophy to the museum, the team of the former Benfica player also received a morale boost ahead of Tuesday’s Riyadh derby against João Félix’s Al Nassr.

The situation is this: if João Félix and Jorge Jesus’s club win, they will be champions; if Al Hilal win, they will depend only on themselves with just two rounds left to play and will have a real chance of winning the competition for the seventh time in the last 10 years.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.