Neymar, a striker who represented Brazil in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, made a comeback and made an impression right away despite just coming off the bench. He contributed an assist in Al-Hilal’s 6-1 victory over Al-Riyadh.
In the sixth round of the Saudi Pro League, coach Jorge Jesus started Al-Hilal’s strongest team against Al-Riyadh, which included players that transferred during the 2023 summer transfer window, such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergej Milinkovic- Savic, Ruben Neves, Malcolm, and Aleksandar Mitrovic.An expensive striker named Neymar was benched.
Due to a better squad in terms of class, the home team rapidly seized the lead from the first minute and throughout the first half.Due to its lopsided 62% possession percentage, Al-Riyadh, which is in the bottom group of the standings, has little opportunity of scoring points.In the 30th minute, Mitrovic converted an 11-yard penalty kick after being heavily pressured to give Al-Hilal the lead.
Al-Hilal’s outstanding effort began with the goal of breaking the draw.The’millionaire’ team’s’ strength and caliber were obvious in the fourth minute of injury time when Milinkovic-Savic assisted defender Yasir Al Shahrani in extending the advantage despite the opponent playing strong defense.
Despite dominating play in the second half, Al-Hilal was unable to get past the home team’s defense.In the 64th minute, Coach Jesus made three replacements, with superstar Neymar making his debut with the new team.Nasser Al-Dawsari assisted rookie Malcom in the 68th minute of play as he scored the third goal for the home team.
Malcom had put himself on the scoreboard by the 83rd minute, while fellow superstar Neymar had made his debut with a productive assist.Not to be outdone by the rookies, Al-Hilal’s Salem Al Dawsari, a winger, also sparkled in the last minutes of play with a double goal to give his team a 6-0 advantage.In the 90+6 minute, Ali Ahmed Tahir Al Zaqan, a substitute, scored to give Al-Riyadh a point.
With 16 points after 6 matches, Al-Hilal has risen to the top of the Saudi Pro League standings, 1 point ahead of Al-Ittihad in second and 9 points ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nasr (position Saturday).