Al-Hilal’s perfect start to the Roshn League season cracked before a ball was even kicked.
On a tense night against Neom, the script ripped apart in the warm-up. Yassine Bounou, the Moroccan cornerstone of Al-Hilal’s back line, pulled up injured and could not continue. In an instant, Simone Inzaghi had to rip up his plan and turn to Mohammed Al-Owais, thrown into the spotlight with no warning and no rhythm.
The tone of the evening changed right there.
From disruption to disarray
Al-Hilal never truly recovered from that early jolt. The defensive assurance that had underpinned five wins from five vanished, replaced by hesitation and loose positioning. Neom sensed it immediately and went after the hosts, pressing high and asking questions of a back line that suddenly looked unsure of itself.
Al-Owais struggled to settle. His handling, his positioning, even his decision-making under pressure lacked the calm Bounou usually provides. Each misplaced pass and nervy touch fed Neom’s belief and drained Al-Hilal’s.
The pressure told after just a quarter of an hour.
Koulibaly’s own goal deepens the blow
In the 15th minute, the night took another cruel twist. Kalidou Koulibaly, usually the defensive general, misjudged a header and steered the ball into his own net. Neom had the lead, and Al-Hilal had a full-blown problem.
The timing could hardly have been worse. Still reeling from the loss of Bounou, Al-Hilal now found themselves behind to a side that had arrived confident and sharp. The own goal did more than change the scoreline; it rattled the team’s composure and stretched Inzaghi’s options on the touchline.
Neom, smelling vulnerability, pushed harder. Every attack seemed to expose another crack.
Al-Owais error turns a setback into a crisis
Just before the interval, the situation slid from worrying to alarming.
In the 44th minute, Al-Owais rushed off his line in a desperate attempt to cut out danger, but his gamble failed badly. The ball broke loose, the Al-Hilal defence froze, and the chaos spilled all the way to the Neom penalty area. Amadou Koné reacted quickest, punishing the confusion and sweeping home a second goal for the visitors.
What began as an enforced goalkeeping change had become a full-scale defensive collapse. Al-Owais could not offer the authority Bounou normally brings, while Koulibaly and the back line around him faltered under pressure. Neom did not need a second invitation; they walked into the space and seized a two-goal cushion.
Numbers that tell an unforgiving story
The damage went beyond the scoreboard. An Opta statistic underlined the scale of Al-Hilal’s task: Neom had won all three matches this season in which they scored first during the opening five rounds of the Roshn League.
Now they had two.
For a side so disciplined at protecting a lead, a 2-0 advantage was almost a fortress. Al-Hilal, who had cruised into the sixth round with five wins from five and 15 points in the bank, suddenly found themselves chasing a game against an opponent perfectly built to shut it down once in front.
The contrast was stark. The team that had swept through the opening weeks with authority now looked stretched, forced into risk and reliant on a comeback against a side with a flawless record when striking first.
A rare and ominous sight
When the whistle blew for half-time, the scoreboard showed Al-Hilal 0–2 Neom. That alone told its own story.
Al-Hilal going into the break two goals down in the Pro League is an event, not a habit. The last time they faced such a deficit at half-time came against Al-Fateh in May 2025, when they trailed by the same 2-0 scoreline before roaring back after the interval to turn the match into a 4-3 classic.
That memory will linger in the minds of players and fans alike. The question now is whether this version of Al-Hilal, bruised by Bounou’s injury and undone by their own mistakes, still has that same capacity to turn chaos into a comeback.
