ALKHOBAR: Simone Inzaghi’s Al-Hilal made up for their 3-1 defeat to Qatar’s Al-Shamal last week with a comfortable 2-0 win over Shabab Al-Ahli in Riyadh on Tuesday. Although the defeat on Matchday 3 came with a second-string squad, it was still their first league stage loss since the launch of the AFC Champions League Elite, which worried fans eager for their first continental title since 2021.
The encounter against Shabba Al-Ahli was the hosts’ first match of this campaign against non-Qatari opposition, and they produced a calm performance against a side that had been one of the competition’s two remaining perfect records.
The match was preceded by an odd situation on Monday, when Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Shabab Al-Ahli had not responded to contact from the Asian Football Confederation, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and Al-Hilal regarding their squad’s arrival time in Riyadh.
The silence mattered because of what had happened a week earlier. On Matchday 3, the AFC postponed Al-Wasl’s match against Al-Nassr in Riyadh after the Emirati club said they could not reach the Saudi capital in time, and Al-Nassr have since filed an official complaint. With that still fresh, and rumors that Shabab Al-Ahli were not prepared to travel amid regional security concerns, Al-Hilal had reason to wonder whether this fixture would go ahead.
Shabab Al-Ahli eventually settled the question on Monday afternoon. On arriving in Riyadh on Monday, the Emirati side posted on X: “We’ve arrived in Riyadh, just as we promised you.”
The club added: “Oh Riyadh of pride, we have come to you, full of longing for you and your people.”
The match itself was, for the most part, uncharacteristically uneventful. Shabab Al-Ahli had just one attempt on goal until the 85th minute, and Al-Hilal were never truly threatened across the 90 minutes. When they scored, the Emirati side’s defense was passive, in contrast to the tenacity they had shown in their first three wins.
Watkins may have opened the scoring, but it was Kalidou Koulibaly who took the plaudits for it. Pushing up from defense to win possession in Shabab Al-Ahli’s half as early as the sixth minute, he pulled off an unlikely skill move to beat his marker and lay the ball off to Watkins, who evaded pressure from Nemanja Maksimovic to finish into the bottom corner.
It was a good day for Al-Hilal’s center-backs, as not only did they have little to deal with from the defensive side, but they created both goals for Watkins. Within a minute of the second half starting, Yusuf Akcicek delivered a long pass behind the Shabab Al-Ahli defense, and Watkins guided the ball across goalkeeper Matheus Donelli to double Al-Hilal’s lead.
From there, Al-Hilal settled into their 5-4-1 formation and saw out a valuable 2-0 victory to move into second place on nine points, ahead of Esteghlal, who had beaten Al-Shamal 1-0 earlier on Tuesday, and Shabab Al-Ahli — both also on nine points — on goal difference.
The West League Stage action for Matchday 4 has now concluded, with Matchday 5 set to begin after the mid-November international break on Nov. 23.
