Karim Benzema and Ruben Neves penalties get Al Hilal up and running in Saudi Pro League
Al Hilal made a winning start to the new Saudi Pro League season with a 4-2 victory over promoted Al Faisaly. A Karim Benzema penalty kick-started proceedings at Kingdom Arena before Malcom added a second on 26 minutes. Ruben Neves converted the first of his two penalties two minutes later before Faisaly threatened an unlikely comeback with second-half goals from Alexandre Mendy and Theo…
Al Hilal started the new Saudi Pro League season strongly with a 4-2 victory over promoted Al Faisaly at Kingdom Arena. Karim Benzema opened the scoring with a penalty in the first half, capitalizing on a VAR review that deemed Al Faisaly's Mohammed Al Shanqiti had handled the ball. Malcom scored a second goal for Al Hilal on 26 minutes, ensuring an early lead.
Ruben Neves added two more penalties for Al Hilal in the second half, the second one coming moments after a penalty was awarded to Al Hilal following a foul on their own kick-off. With the score at 3-0, Al Hilal appeared to have secured a comfortable win, but Al Faisaly mounted a comeback with two goals. Alexandre Mendy and Theo Bongonda scored for Al Faisaly, reducing Al Hilal's lead to one goal.
In the final minutes, Neves scored his second penalty, securing the 4-2 victory for Al Hilal. Summer signing Crysencio Summerville made his first start for Al Hilal on the left wing, although it was the experienced Benzema who led the charge. Al Ettifaq also kicked off their season strongly, winning 4-2 over Al Riyadh with Moussa Dembele scoring a hat-trick.
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