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Al-Zaim lose Roshan League title for second season in a row
Al Hilal failed to pull off the miracle of regaining the Saudi League title despite a late season win over Al Fayha.
Al Hilal edged Al Fayah 1-0 in their 34th and final Roshan League match at the Al Majmaah Sports City Stadium today, Thursday.
The only goal of “Al Hilal” was scored by Saudi player Sultan Mandesh in the 4th minute of the match, after a special pass by Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
Win without the title
Despite the win, Al Hilal failed to win the Saudi League title, after taking their tally to 84 points, placing them second in the league table.
Al Zaim are two points behind Al-Nasr, who won the Saudi League title for the first time after a seven-year absence with a win over Damak.
This marked the second season in a row that Al-Hilal have failed to win the Saudi League title, after they also lost to arch-rivals Al-Ittihad last season.
As for Al-Fayha, its position has not changed much, as its score has stopped at 38 points, occupying the tenth place in the standings.
A Brazilian mix…and Al-Dosari’s surprise
“Al Hilal” coach Italian Simone Inzaghi used a Brazilian team at the end of his matches in the Saudi Roshen League in the current season of 2025-2026.
The starting line-up saw the absence of Al Hilal captain Salem Al-Dosari as Inzaghi decided to drop him on the bench despite his recovery from injury and the team’s group training session yesterday, Wednesday.
The Italian coach opted to use a Brazilian duo of winger Malcom and striker Marcos Leonardo in the forward line, while Sultan Mandes played as a right winger in the midfield five.
Notably, Al Hilal are without French striker Karim Benzema due to the injury he is currently suffering from, which forced him out of the last match against NEOM.
The formation of Al-Hilal was as follows.
Goalkeeper: Yasin Bunu
Defensive line: Hassan Timbukti – Ruben Neves – Miteb Al-Harbi
Midfield: Sultan Mendes – Sergej Milinkovic-Savic – Mohamed Kanno – Nasser Al-Dosari – Theo Hernandez
Offensive line: Malcolm – Marcos Leonardo
purposeful
Al Hilal began to attack and score, especially in the fourth minute of the match, through their recently brilliant Saudi winger Sultan Mandesh.
Mendes scored the goal in superb fashion, receiving a neat pass from Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, then dribbled and fired a left-footed shot into the net.
White goal for Al-Fayha
Al-Fayha almost hit back when Stylianos Frontis equalized in the 16th minute, but the referee ruled it out for offside after returning to the video technology.
White goal for Al Hilal
In the same way, Al Hilal was denied a second goal after their Brazilian striker Marcos Leonardo put the ball into the goal in the 38th minute.
After scoring and celebrating, the referee went back to video technology and disallowed the goal due to the presence of another Brazilian, Malcom, who was offside before passing the ball to Marcos Leonardo.
Missed crescent kick
Al Hilal had a chance to score a second goal in the 64th minute when Sultan Mandash scored a penalty, but Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves was unable to put it into the net.
