ODION Ighalo was the hero for Al Hilal last night as they returned to winning ways in the Saudi Professional League.
The Nigeria international scored the only goal of the match to steer the champions to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Al-Ittihad.
Ighalo struck in the 12th minute to take his scoring run to five straight games as Al Hilal bounced back from poor form.
The former Watford and Manchester United striker has scored against Al-Tai, Al-Battin, Al-Nassr, Damac and now Al-Ittihad in consecutive games either side of the Qatar 2022 World Cup break.
It is Al Hilal’s first win in three matches after two consecutive 2-2 draws against Cristiano Ronaldo’s new club Al Nassr and Damac set them back in the pursuit of the league title.
The 33-year-old Super Eagles striker has now scored eight goals in 12 league matches, and he is second in the scoring charts behind Anderson Talisca.
With the result, Al Hilal climbed over Al-Ittihad into third place in the table, one point behind Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, who have a game in hand.
Al Hilal have won six of the last seven Saudi Pro League titles, with Al Nassr winning the other one in 2018/2019.
