Who needs Neymar?! Malcom scores hat-trick as Al-Hilal thump Al-Hazm without Brazilian superstar

Al-Hilal continued their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season with a demolition of bottom side Al-Hazm. Former Fulham star Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring, before Mohamed Kanno and Mohammed Al-Qahtani got on the scoresheet before half time. Malcom scored a quick double in the 52nd and 55th minute before Saleh Alshehri made it 6-0 11 minutes from time. Mohammed Alburayk scored soon after, before Malcom completed his hat-trick and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic rounded off the scoring in second-half stoppage time.

Al-Hilal sit top of the table with 12 wins and two draws from their opening 14 matches. They are four points clear of second-placed Al-Nassr and they are achieving this without a world-class player in Neymar. The 31-year-oldsuffered an ACL injury last month whilst playing for Brazil and now is trying to recover from this setback. The form they are in shows they are the dominant force in the divison, with or without the Brazilian international.

Neymar signed for the Saudi club for €90 million (£78m) on reported annual wages of €150m (£130m). He went on to make five appearances before his injury, scoring once.

Al-Hilal are back in AFC Champions League action on Tuesday away to Navbahor. They will then take on Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr.