Video: Martinelli rescues Al-Hilal from the Al-Hazm trap on the night of "the Tornado's" return
The leader reclaims top spot
Al-Hilal left it until the 89th minute to break Al-Hazem's resistance on Monday evening, snatching a precious 1-0 win in the tenth round of the Saudi Roshn Pro League. Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli delivered the three points his side craved. The game threw up a host of dangerous chances and an outstanding display from the visitors' goalkeeper, before the decisive blow arrived in the final moments.
The win moved Al-Hilal onto 24 points, two clear of Al-Qadsiah, who still have a postponed fixture against Al-Ahli to play next March. Al-Hazem, meanwhile, trudged off in disappointment. They had weathered Al-Hilal's pressure all night and came within touching distance of a precious point, only for Martinelli's late strike to deny them.
Martinelli threatens early, but the crossbar denies him a goal
Al-Hilal flew out of the blocks and nearly led inside seven minutes when Martinelli broke through on goal. Al-Hazm keeper Jindrich Stanek read it perfectly, spreading himself to block the effort with his foot and deny the hosts an early opener.
A minute later the Brazilian winger was at it again. He let fly with a thunderous strike that rattled the crossbar, a chance that had the Al-Hilal faithful holding their breath, and the hosts kept probing for the breakthrough.
Mohamed Kanno then climbed highest to meet a cross inside the box on 20 minutes, but his header sailed over the bar. Another chance gone begging.
Still Al-Hilal pressed. Martinelli wasted another opening in the 24th minute, lashing a low cross over the goal, while Al-Hazm stuck rigidly to their defensive shape and tried to smother the threat.
Stanek produced one more moment of brilliance before the break. On 39 minutes he smothered a dangerous effort from Kalidou Koulibaly, then dealt with a second strike and pushed it behind for a corner, keeping the game goalless despite relentless pressure.
Watkins squanders chance as VAR disallows Al-Hilal goal
Al-Hilal resumed their hunt to crack Al-Hazm's defensive code after the restart. Ollie Watkins came within inches of breaking the deadlock in the 54th minute, meeting a pinpoint cross from Ruben Neves with no marker in sight, only to fail to steer the ball goalwards. Another golden chance gone for the hosts.
They finally thought they had the opener in the 66th minute. Watkins found the net from a Martinelli cross, but the celebrations were cut short when the referee chalked it off for offside following a VAR review. Goalless still, and the pressure mounted on the hosts as the game ticked towards its closing stages.
The profligacy didn't end there. Crysencio Summerville spurned a glorious opening in the 78th minute, finding himself bearing down on goal before firing wide. It summed up Al-Hilal's struggle to turn their attacking dominance into goals, and it handed Al-Hazm growing belief that they might just steal something from the night.
With the match drifting towards a goalless draw, Martinelli struck at the decisive moment, poaching Al-Hilal's only goal in the 89th minute to break Al-Hazm's stubborn defensive resistance after a long night of wasted chances.
For the hosts, the goal was the breakthrough they had chased until the final moments.
The Brazilian's strike handed Al-Hilal a hugely important win. They turned relentless attacking pressure into three precious points in the race for top spot. For Al-Hazm, a night of dogged defending collapsed into a painful late defeat, with a point almost in their grasp.
Salem Al-Dawsari returned in the 90th minute. The Al-Hilal captain featured for the first time this season after injury had sidelined him for every match.
Victory lifted Al-Hilal to 24 points, two clear of Al-Qadsiah, with their meeting against Al-Ahli still postponed to next March. The Blues banked the result, but they will want to study the string of missed chances that nearly cost them two points, before Martinelli's last-gasp goal put the smile back on their fans' faces.
