Al-Hilal defeats Al-Ahli 3-0

English international striker Ollie Watkins opened his scoring account with his new club Al-Hilal, leading them to a commanding 3-0 victory over a reduced-number Al-Ahli, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, in a postponed match of the third round of the Saudi Professional League.

Watkins, who joined Al-Hilal on Sunday from Aston Villa, came on in the second half as a substitute for French midfielder Mohamed Kader M’iti, and managed to score his first goal for his new club in the 86th minute.

Al-Hilal secured the win with first-half goals from Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinković-Savić (9th minute) and another new signing, Dutch forward Kerem Demirbay (23rd minute), who scored his second goal for Al-Hilal since joining from West Ham United in late July.

This was Al-Hilal’s fourth consecutive victory. The runners-up in last season’s title race moved up to 12 points, catching up to their neighbors and rivals Al-Nassr, the defending champions, at the top of the table. Meanwhile, Al-Ahli’s tally remained at 6 points after suffering their second consecutive defeat.

Al-Ahli suffered a heavy blow in the first half when their Turkish defender Merih Demiral was sent off in stoppage time.