Al-Hulood secured a 3-2 victory over Al-Taawun in the Pro-League's second regular season match at Al-Hazem Club Stadium on Friday. The hosts had led 4-1 through Shaquille Riley Pinas's double and Iker Kortajarena's opener before three second-half goals from Abderrazak Hamdallah turned the tie on its head. To be fair, the final result captured the chaos of a match where VAR intervened twice in the first half.
E. Utkus opened the scoring in the twenty-first minute, and Kortajarena added a second nine minutes later. The visitors then had a goal cancelled by VAR in the fortieth minute while Pinas also saw a penalty disallowed after the initial flag. By then, the momentum had shifted. Pinas scored twice before half-time — once from the spot and another in added time — to complete his brace.
Hamdallah's comeback began in the fifty-second minute and he finished off the hosts in the ninetieth and ninety-second minutes. The Saudi striker had nothing to do all evening until the closing stages when he found space in the box twice. Al-Taawun's away end never stopped, but they could not find a late equaliser despite dominating possession for large spells.
The statistics told a different story from the scoreline. Al-Taawun held 61 per cent possession and registered 107 attacks compared to the hosts' 48, yet their shot accuracy of 23 per cent left them short. Al-Hulood converted 55 per cent of their shots on target and registered an expected goals tally of 1.84 to the visitors' 1.52. The hosts created three big chances while the visitors managed two.
The result moves Al-Hulood to four points clear of the relegation zone with nine points from five matches and one game won, two drawn, and none lost this term. Al-Taawun remain fifteen minutes behind safety with just two points from four games and two defeats. The five-goal margin gives the hosts a healthy buffer as the season progresses.