Bafetimbi Gomis hat-trick seals Saudi Pro League title for Al Hilal - in pictures

Frenchman's haul includes two penalties to dispatch Al Hazem 4-1

Al Hilal player Salman Al Faraj celebrates winning the Saudi Professional League title following a 4-1 win over Al Hazem in August 2020.

Al Hilal manager Razvan Lucescu and coaching staff celebrate.

Al Hilal's Mohammed Al Burayk celebrates. EPA

Manager Razvan Lucescu.

Players and coaching staff of Al Hilal celebrate winning the Saudi Pro League title.

Al Hilal's player Bafetimbi Gomis, left, celebrates with a teammate after scoring against Al Hazem.

Bafetimbi Gomis in action. EPA

Al Hilal's Yasir Al Shahrani.

Al Hazem's Abdullah Alshamri heads the ball. EPA

Al Hilal's Sebastian Giovinco, centre, in action.

Al Hilal's Salem Al Dawsari (back) in action against Al Hazem's Abdulrahman Al Yami. EPA

Al Hazem's Abdulrahman Al Yami celebrates opening the scoring.

Al Hilal's player Gustavo Cuellar.

Al Hilal have been crowned Saudi Arabian champions for the 16th time after they sealed the championship on Saturday night with two rounds to spare.

The Riyadh side, the reigning Asian champions, defeated Al Hazem 4-1 at the King Saud University Stadium, with Bafetimbi Gomis netting a hat-trick.

The win ensured Hilal remain six points clear of last season’s league winners Al Nassr, but their superior head-to-head record means the trophy moves back across the city following a one-year hiatus.

Hilal round off their Saudi Pro League campaign away to Al Wahda on Friday before hosting Al Shabab on September 9. Razvan Lucescu's men resume their Asian Champions League defence five days later, when they complete Group B in the pandemic-impacted revised pool stage.

Hilal sit second in the standings after two matches, level on six points with Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor. All remaining group matches take place in Doha.

Against Hazem on Saturday, Hilal actually went a goal down within three minutes to the visitors, but quickly rebounded through Salem Al Dawsari before Gomis struck a treble that included two penalties. It moved the Frenchman to 24 goals for the season, three behind the league's lead scorer Abderrazak Hamdallah.