Al-Hilal continued its campaign to defend the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup title, by defeating its host Al-Taei 4-1, clinching its qualification to the quarter-finals of the competition on Tuesday.

Al Hilal’s lineup witnessed the absence of its most prominent stars from the match, such as Salem Al Dosari, Malcolm, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, after coach Jorge Jesus brought in several alternative names.

Al-Hilal took an early lead through Abdullah Al-Hamdan after a distinguished individual effort inside the penalty area in the fifth minute, before Al-Tai quickly returned with a surprise ground shot through Ahmed Al-Jawaid in the 7th minute.

Al-Hilal returned to the lead through Khaled Al-Ghannam in the 38th minute after receiving a beautiful pass from Nasser Al-Dosari.

Al-Hamdan scored his second goal in the match and the third for Al-Zaeem with a beautiful left shot from inside the penalty area in the 49th minute.

Brazilian Marcos Leonardo left his mark in the match by scoring the fourth goal in the 53rd minute from a quick attack.

Al-Hilal became the fourth qualifier to the quarter-finals after Al-Shabab, Al-Ittihad and Al-Qadisiyah