Al-Hilal Faces Crisis After Warm-Up Injury Against Neom
Al-Hilal’s perfect start to the Roshn League season unravelled before a ball had even been kicked.
What was supposed to be a routine sixth-round assignment against Neom turned into a night of damage limitation the moment Yassine Bounou felt something go in the warm-up. One stretch, one grimace, and the Moroccan walked off. With that, Simone Inzaghi’s plans walked off with him.
Mohammed Al-Owais was told to get ready. No gentle easing in, no time to settle. One of the league’s most demanding fixtures, and a title contender suddenly relying on a cold goalkeeper.
It showed.
A warm-up injury, a cold start
From the first whistle, Al-Hilal looked rattled. The back line, usually so assured, lost its bearings. Passes went astray, distances between defenders widened, and Neom smelled the uncertainty.
Al-Owais, thrust into the spotlight, never found his rhythm. Neom pressed high, snapped into duels, and forced Al-Hilal to play facing their own goal. Every backpass carried a hint of anxiety. Every Neom attack seemed to grow in belief.
The pressure finally told on a man who rarely crumbles.
Koulibaly’s own goal deepens the shock
On 15 minutes, Kalidou Koulibaly misjudged the danger. A routine defensive action turned into a disaster as the Senegalese defender glanced a header into his own net, past the helpless Al-Owais.
Neom had their lead. Al-Hilal had a problem.
The timing could hardly have been worse. Still reeling from Bounou’s withdrawal, Inzaghi’s side suddenly had to chase a game against opponents who arrived brimming with confidence and now had the scoreline to match their mood.
Instead of settling, Al-Hilal’s structure frayed further. Koulibaly, usually the organiser, looked shaken. The full-backs hesitated between pushing on and protecting a goalkeeper who did not inspire calm. Neom kept coming.
Al-Owais error turns a setback into a crisis
Just before half-time, the fragile balance collapsed again.
In the 44th minute, Al-Owais rushed off his line, misreading the situation badly. What followed was chaos. The ball broke loose, defenders failed to react, and it spilled into a Neom penalty-area scramble that Al-Hilal never managed to clear with conviction.
Amadou Koné reacted fastest. One touch, one finish. 2-0.
What began as a late change in goal had become a full-blown crisis. Al-Owais, unable to replicate Bounou’s authority, looked exposed. The defensive unit in front of him, led by Koulibaly, offered little protection and even less clarity.
Neom did not need a second invitation. They had the scoreline, they had the momentum, and, crucially, they had history on their side.
Neom’s ruthless record, Al-Hilal’s rare predicament
An Opta statistic framed the scale of Al-Hilal’s task. Across the first five rounds of the Roshn League, Neom had won every match in which they scored first. Three times they struck the opener. Three times they saw it through.
Now they had a two-goal cushion against the league leaders.
For Al-Hilal, this was uncharted territory in the current campaign. They had arrived in the sixth round with a perfect record: five wins from five, 15 points from 15, and the aura of a side that bends matches to its will.
Neom tore that aura away in 45 minutes.
Trailing 0-2 at the interval is not just uncomfortable for Al-Hilal; it is rare. The last time they went in at half-time two or more goals down in the Pro League came against Al-Fateh in May 2025, when they faced the same 2-0 deficit before roaring back to win 4-3.
That night, they found a response.
Against Neom, with Bounou sidelined, Al-Owais under scrutiny, and Koulibaly’s own goal still hanging in the air, the question is sharper: how many times can a title contender live on comebacks before the damage becomes permanent?
