Italian Simone Inzaghi, Al-Hilal's coach, praised the performance of his players against Al-Ahli Jeddah on Tuesday.
Al-Hilal defeated Al-Ahli Jeddah 3-0 in a postponed classic from the third round of the Saudi League.
Inzaghi said in statements carried by the Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadh: "I am very happy and satisfied with the performance, and I congratulate the players. We played a great match against a strong opponent, and with our numerical advantage, we could have scored the third goal earlier, but I am generally satisfied with the performance."
The Italian also spoke about English striker Ollie Watkins, who scored a goal in his first appearance for the team, saying: "He has trained with us twice and is starting to gel with the group."
He praised Sultan Mandash's performance, saying: "He is performing brilliantly this season. We have many matches ahead, and we need all the players."
He also praised Crescensio Samper, saying: "Samper is a player who is difficult to stop in one-on-one situations, and he adds a lot of attacking danger. He excelled alongside Mandash."
He emphasized: "We work together as a collective. We cannot attribute the victory to just one or two players; rather, we thank all the players. I also thank our fans, who were a strong support for us throughout the match. The team showed a mature level, and our performance was great from the start."
Regarding the readiness of Brazilian winger Gabriel Martinelli, who arrived in Riyadh to begin his journey with Al-Hilal, he clarified: "We may see him in the next match."
Inzaghi confirmed that team captain Salem Al-Dawsari needs some time to fully recover from his injury, emphasizing that they are waiting for the player's return to participate in matches.
He expressed his confidence in "the team improving over time" and added: "We enjoyed the match, are proud of the team, and will develop from one match to the next."
Al-Hilal opened the scoring early through Serbian Sergej Milinković-Savić in the ninth minute.
Dutchman Crescensio Samper added the second goal in the 23rd minute.
English international Ollie Watkins, who came from Aston Villa, participated in the match and scored the third goal with a header in the 86th minute.
Al-Hilal took the lead, surpassing Al-Nassr by the goal difference of the three goals they scored in the match against Al-Ahli.
Al-Hilal returned to the top of the standings for the first time since the 22nd round of last season, ending Al-Nassr's dominance of the top spot for 16 consecutive rounds.
