Al-Hilal 3-2 Al-Ittihad: Summerville's stunner settles five-goal thriller

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ShareAl-Hilal moved back to the top of the Saudi Pro League table after edging past Al-Ittihad, whose unbeaten start came to an end.Crysencio Summerville's stunning strike proved to be the difference as Al-Hilal earned a thrilling 3-2 win over Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League.Gabriel Martinelli and Ollie Watkins scored on either side of Youssef En-Nesyri's equaliser, but Summerville's curler was enough to secure three points after Steven Bergwijn's late spot-kick.Watkins, Martinelli and Saimon Bouabre all saw shots saved in the opening six minutes before the Brazilian got the breakthrough 11 minutes in.Al-Hilal moved it well down the right, and Watkins pulled it back from the byline, with Martinelli adjusting his run quickly to turn it past Predrag Rajkovic first time.En-Nesyri pulled Al-Ittihad level just 11 minutes later, finishing off a fast break by latching onto Marwan Al Sahafi's throughball without having to break stride to curl a fine effort past Yassine Bounou.Watkins restored Al-Hilal's lead on the half-hour mark; he put pressure on Danilo while he tried to make a routine clearance and volleyed in the loose ball.The striker was denied a second goal on the stroke of half-time as he was adjudged to have turned it over the line using his arm, while Faris Abdi was given a reprieve after scoring an own goal as Kalidou Koulibaly was offside when he knocked the ball down.But Summerville added a third for Al-Hilal in the 64th minute after a lovely jinking run down the left before he cut inside and bent a lovely strike into the bottom-right corner.Al-Ittihad set up a nervy ending, though, with Ruben Neves' late tackle on Jan-Carlo Simic in the box awarded as a penalty, which Bergwijn emphatically fired in after 89 minutes, but the visitors could not find an equaliser. Summerville scored the winner, but Watkins ran the showSummerville's goal turned out to be the winner in a fiery match that finished with Al-Ittihad furiously surrounding the referee, but Watkins will take the plaudits.He has impressed since his move from Aston Villa over the summer, netting his fifth goal of the campaign and taking his tally of assists up to six after setting up the other two goals on Saturday.Watkins had a joint-team-high three shots (level with Martinelli) and topped the charts for chances created (four) and touches in the opposition box (11), despite having just 30 touches overall.Al-Hilal continued their early-season momentum, having now recorded seven wins in the Saudi Pro League, leaving them top of the table, while also dealing Al-Ittihad their first defeat of the campaign.The visitors certainly had their chances, though, getting five of their eight shots on target, but they just could not muster another late chance to potentially force a draw.Al-Hilal moved back to the top of the Saudi Pro League table after edging past Al-Ittihad, whose unbeaten start came to an end.Crysencio Summerville's stunning strike proved to be the difference as Al-Hilal earned a thrilling 3-2 win over Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League.Gabriel Martinelli and Ollie Watkins scored on either side of Youssef En-Nesyri's equaliser, but Summerville's curler was enough to secure three points after Steven Bergwijn's late spot-kick.Watkins, Martinelli and Saimon Bouabre all saw shots saved in the opening six minutes before the Brazilian got the breakthrough 11 minutes in.Al-Hilal moved it well down the right, and Watkins pulled it back from the byline, with Martinelli adjusting his run quickly to turn it past Predrag Rajkovic first time.En-Nesyri pulled Al-Ittihad level just 11 minutes later, finishing off a fast break by latching onto Marwan Al Sahafi's throughball without having to break stride to curl a fine effort past Yassine Bounou.Watkins restored Al-Hilal's lead on the half-hour mark; he put pressure on Danilo while he tried to make a routine clearance and volleyed in the loose ball.The striker was denied a second goal on the stroke of half-time as he was adjudged to have turned it over the line using his arm, while Faris Abdi was given a reprieve after scoring an own goal as Kalidou Koulibaly was offside when he knocked the ball down.But Summerville added a third for Al-Hilal in the 64th minute after a lovely jinking run down the left before he cut inside and bent a lovely strike into the bottom-right corner.Al-Ittihad set up a nervy ending, though, with Ruben Neves' late tackle on Jan-Carlo Simic in the box awarded as a penalty, which Bergwijn emphatically fired in after 89 minutes, but the visitors could not find an equaliser. Summerville scored the winner, but Watkins ran the showSummerville's goal turned out to be the winner in a fiery match that finished with Al-Ittihad furiously surrounding the referee, but Watkins will take the plaudits.He has impressed since his move from Aston Villa over the summer, netting his fifth goal of the campaign and taking his tally of assists up to six after setting up the other two goals on Saturday.Watkins had a joint-team-high three shots (level with Martinelli) and topped the charts for chances created (four) and touches in the opposition box (11), despite having just 30 touches overall.Al-Hilal continued their early-season momentum, having now recorded seven wins in the Saudi Pro League, leaving them top of the table, while also dealing Al-Ittihad their first defeat of the campaign.The visitors certainly had their chances, though, getting five of their eight shots on target, but they just could not muster another late chance to potentially force a draw.