NEOM Pulls Off a Huge Upset in Riyadh
NEOM SC pulled off a huge upset by defeating Al Hilal 2–0 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh last night. The result ended Al Hilal’s impressive 47-game unbeaten streak in the Saudi Pro League.
Al-Hilal Were Looking Amazing, Determined To Win Everything
Just a couple of days ago, I mentioned the Blue Power of the Blue Waves from Riyadh. Al-Hilal were the hottest club this season and looked absolutely determined to capture the Saudi League title, which they lost to Al-Nassr in a dogfight to the end, last season. The pain was more severe: the Blue Waves were undefeated during the entire campaign, but still could not manage to win the Title.
Read on: Watch Out For Al-Hilal, The Blue Power
But A Streak Is Bound To End One Day
The mesmerising 47-Game unbeaten run had to end eventually, and it happened with NEOM, one of the new clubs in Saudi Arabia, who are only in their second year in the Saudi League, handing a 2-0 beating to Al-Hilal.
It Was Also Simone Izaghi’s First Loss
An own goal from the veteran defender Koulibaly in the 15th minute and then a goal by Amadou Kone just before half-time in a goalmouth scramble sealed the deal for the newbies. Interestingly, it was Manager Simone Izaghi’s first loss in the League since taking over Managerial duties.
NEOM Played Brilliantly & Deserved To Win
With Ollie Watkins and Gabriel Martinelli both playing for the Blue Waves in the Kingdom Arena in front of a burgeoning home crowd, the loss, though just an aberration, became a bit of an embarrassment, as Al-Hilal failed to score. But NEOM were good and defended bravely to deny Al-Hilal any opportunity to come back into the game.
A Strange Game
Football is a strange game, and even stranger things have happened on the football field. Despite the loss, Al-Hilal stay on top of the Saudi Pro League rankings as of now, with 15 points from 6 games.
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