Karim Benzema, Marcos Leonardo and Ruben Neves were on target as Al-Hilal beat Al-Hazem 3-0, cutting the gap to Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Nassr.

With Al-Nassr not in action until Sunday, Simone Inzaghi's side had the chance to cut their lead at the summit to five points, which they did in clinical fashion. 

Benzema opened the scoring at Ar-Rass Stadium after just nine minutes, capitalising on some pedestrian defending to tap Neves' deflected corner into an open net, with Ibrahim Zaied nowhere to be found. 

Theo Hernandez and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both fired on target across the half as Al-Hilal controlled proceedings, with Abdurahman Al-Dakheel going close at the other end. 

Sultan Mandash thought he had doubled Al-Hilal's lead when Leonardo's shot crashed off the post and into his path for a simple tap-in, but the goal was swiftly ruled out for offside after a VAR review. 

But the duo combined in the 82nd minute to make it 2-0, with Leonardo sliding in to send Mandash's low cross into the bottom-left corner. 

Neves added gloss to the scoreline in the third minute of stoppage time, finishing coolly from the penalty spot after Mohamed Kanno was felled in the box by Aboubacar Bah. 

Data Debrief: Benzema makes big impact as Al-Hilal extend dominant run 

Benzema has been prolific for Al-Hilal this season, and Saturday's clash was no exception. 

With his goal, the Frenchman brought his tally up to 17 for the Pro League season, including seven-match opening strikes.  

The victory also extended Al-Hilal's strong record against Al-Hazem, with the visitors now unbeaten in the last nine league matches between the two sides. 

Al-Hilal ended the match with 3.24 expected goals (xG), while Al-Hazem could only manage 1.11 xG in response.