Al-Najma 2-4 Al-Hilal: Neves goes from zero to hero in eventful victory

Al-Hilal continued their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season as they twice came back from a goal down to beat Al-Najma 4-2.

Despite Al-Najma taking the lead twice, red cards for Jawad El Yamiq and Lazaro, who scored the opener, allowed Al-Hilal to win the match as Salem Al-Dawsari, Theo Hernandez and Ruben Neves got on the scoresheet.

Al-Najma went ahead when Yassine Bounou’s failed clearance fell kindly to Lazaro, and the forward found the unguarded net from distance, but that lead did not last long as Al-Dawsari smashed the ball past Victor Braga shortly after.

Lazaro was shown a straight red card in the 58th minute after kicking out at an opponent, but Al-Najma regained the lead against the run of play as Neves turned the ball into his own net on the hour mark.

Al-Hilal equalised once again, and this time Al-Dawsari was the provider as he cut the ball back for Hernandez to finish into the bottom-right corner.

The game-defining moment then came in the 76th minute, when El-Yamiq was sent off for a last-man foul and Neves slammed home the free-kick.

Al-Dawsari added some late gloss to the scoreline for Al-Hilal, showing great composure to dribble around Braga before scoring, before Malcom also hit the woodwork in stoppage time.

Data Debrief: Al-Hilal’s customary welcome to the league

Simone Inzaghi will be glad to see his side prevail after a dominant performance on the road.

His team accumulated 2.09 expected goals (xG) from 18 shots, compared to Al-Najma’s 0.3 from four attempts.

Al-Hilal have now won their last 23 Saudi Pro League matches against teams they were facing for the first time. They scored at least twice in 19 of those games and kept clean sheets in 12 of them.

Al-Najma, meanwhile, have equalled Al-Ansar’s unwanted record of being the only other side to lose their first eight matches of a season.