Neymar’s Al-Hilal debut was marred by boos and jeers from his own fans after he didn’t take a penalty in his new side’s 6-1 win over Al-Riyadh on Friday.
The Brazilian made the £78million switch from PSG in the summer and finally made his debut in Saudi Arabia due to the delay of the international break. But it would certainly have been a strange bow for the former Barcelona superstar after he and his team-mates were booed despite being 4-0 up at the time.
Al-Hilal were leading 3-0 via goals from former Fulham man Aleksandar Mitrovic and Saudi international Yasser Alshahrani and Nasser Aldawsari, before Neymar made his entrance to a rapturous reception from the crowd. Former Barcelona winger Malcom then added a fourth for the hosts before Al-Hilal were awarded a penalty with three minutes left of the 90.
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Neymar, who recently surpassed Pele to become Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer, was presented the perfect opportunity to open his account from the spot. But, to the dismay of fans, Salem Aldawsari stepped up to take the penalty. Neymar stood outside of the 18-yard box while boos and jeers could be heard from the crowd who wanted to see their latest arrival score from the spot.
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Aldawsari would convert the penalty and then added his second of the game and Al-Hilal’s sixth in added time to complete the rout that saw Neymar not get on the scoresheet. But Neymar didn’t show any signs of frustration as he joined Aldawsari and his team-mates in their celebrations.
Al-Hilal’s rout saw them climb to the top of the Saudi Pro League, overtaking last season’s champions Al-Ittihad by a point.
But early surprise package Al-Taawoun, who beat Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr 2-0 earlier on in the season and are currently in profit in the transfer window, could draw level on points with them at the summit if they beat Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino’s Al-Ahli on Saturday.
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