Marcos Leonardo’s first-half penalty was sufficient to e-book Al-Hilal a spot within the King’s Cup spherical of 16 with a 1-0 win over Al-Bukayriyah.
The defending champions dominated from the beginning, with Abdullah Al Hamddan and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic each seeing early efforts saved by Dziugas Bartkus.
Al Hamddan then received the game-winning spot-kick within the fortieth minute, being introduced down within the field by Ibrahim Al Sunaytan, and Leonardo made no mistake from 12 yards.
Al-Hilal saved pushing for an additional purpose, with substitutes Renan Lodi and Aleksandar Mitrovic each testing Bartkus within the second half, however they may not add to the scoreline.
Neymar, who’s gearing up for his return to motion after a yr on the sidelines, was not concerned for Al-Hilal, who paved the way within the Saudi Professional League.
Step one in defending the title has been accomplished #KingCup pic.twitter.com/7IWIw6w6HT
— AlHilal Saudi Membership (@Alhilal_EN) September 24, 2024
Information Debrief: Leonardo proves the distinction
Al-Hilal had been dominant within the first half, fully overwhelming their opponents as they’d 12 of their 17 photographs earlier than the break, getting 5 of these heading in the right direction.
However throughout the 90 minutes, it was Leonardo who was the standout, having the second-most photographs (three) and accumulating 0.82 anticipated objectives (xG).
His solely shot heading in the right direction might have been the profitable penalty, however he proved a handful as he additionally had probably the most touches within the opposition field (10).