The week in Asian football

HONG KONG, Nov 2 - Talking points from the week in Asian football:

WATKINS, NEVES STRIKE TO PUT AL-HILAL BACK ON TOP

Ollie Watkins and Ruben Neves were on target as Al-Hilal returned to the top of the Saudi Pro League with a 2-0 win over Al-Fateh on Saturday.

Al-Qadsiah had gone top on Friday with a 6-0 thrashing of Al-Riyadh, with Tijani Reijnders scoring a hat-trick. They now trail Al-Hilal by two points.

Cristiano Ronaldo also scored a hat-trick as defending champions Al-Nassr remained third following a 5-3 win over Al-Kholood.

FC TOKYO EASE TO VICTORY TO CLAIM POLE POSITION

FC Tokyo thrashed Fagiano Okayama 4-0 on Saturday to move ahead of Machida Zelvia and into top spot in the J.League. Teruhito Nakagawa scored twice as Tokyo capitalised on Machida's 0-0 draw with Gamba Osaka.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima trail the leaders by a point after their 3-0 win over Mito Hollyhock. Machida are third, a point further back.

WELLINGTON STAY PERFECT BY BEATING CHAMPIONS NEWCASTLE

Wellington Phoenix continued their perfect start to the A-League season with a 3-0 win over Newcastle Jets on Saturday.

Corban Piper gave the New Zealanders a 14th-minute lead but they had to wait till the closing minutes to make sure of the win, with Riley Bidois and Nathan Walker scoring in the 87th and 93rd minutes respectively.

Wellington have won all three of their matches to start the season and have opened up a four-point lead over Western Sydney Wanderers, who were held 0-0 by Macarthur FC.

ULSAN CONSOLIDATE HOLD ON SECOND WITH WIN OVER GANGWON

Ulsan HD picked up a 2-1 win over Gangwon FC to consolidate their hold on second place in the K League standings behind new champions FC Seoul.

Ulsan extended their advantage over third-placed Daejeon Citizen to four points after Hwang Sun-hong's team were held 0-0 by Jeonbuk Motors. REUTERS