Summit of frightening numbers: Inzaghi breaks the curse and Kenyans defies Al-Hilal!

Al-Hilal edged a thrilling top-of-the-table clash with Al-Qadsiah 3-2 in the eleventh round of the Saudi Pro League. The three points mattered, but so did the story behind them, with the game throwing up a string of notable statistics for the club, its coach and several of its stars.

The "leader of Asia" climbed to the summit of the Roshn League on 27 points, two clear of both Al-Qadsiah and Al-Nassr. Remember too that they still have a postponed match to play, on top of the international break.

Read also: Exclusive to "Kooora": Will Inzaghi leave Al-Hilal?

Al-Hilal ends its Dammam curse

A long wait finally ended for the Blues at Al-Qadsiah's stadium. This was their first league win over their Eastern Province rivals since 21 December 2020, a 3-1 victory. Since then they had played twice there, losing the first 1-2 and drawing the second 2-2, before breaking the run at the third attempt.

Inzaghi adds Rodgers to his list of victims

Simone Inzaghi keeps padding out his coaching record. The Italian beat Al-Qadsiah's Northern Irish boss Brendan Rodgers for the first time, taking the number of coaches he has got the better of in his career to 167, according to figures from the "Transfermarkt" website.

Their first meeting had finished 2-2 last season. The list of coaches Inzaghi has yet to beat now stands at just 23 names, with Italian Stefano Pioli out in front on the other side after losing to him 13 times.

Quiñones continues to trouble Al-Hilal

Julián Quiñones remains a thorn in Al-Hilal's side. The Mexican striker kept up his fine record against them in the Roshn League, heading home in the 31st minute from a Musab Al-Juwayr pass.

That strike stretched his run of goal involvements to all four of his league matches against Al-Hilal. He set one up in Al-Qadsiah's 2-1 win in 2024-2025, then scored in both of last season's games, each ending 2-2.

Neves achieves his longest scoring streak against a single opponent

Rúben Neves kept up his habit of punishing Al-Qadsiah. The Portuguese has now scored in three straight matches against the side in the Saudi Pro League.

That makes it his longest scoring streak against any single opponent in the competition. It's another statistical marker for the leaders' stars in a clash that tightened their grip on the title race.