(VIDEO) Al-Hilal and Neymar failed against one of the worst teams in Saudi Arabia

The start of Neymar's experience in Saudi Arabia has not been good. In the first weeks since his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain he was unable to play due to a minor injury. And then he had to fly to South America to join the Brazil national team for the matches against Bolivia and Peru for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

His long-awaited debut came last week, when he came on in the second half of Al-Hilal's 6-1 win over Al-Riyadh. There he was unable to score, but assisted Malcom in the team's fourth goal. His first game as part of the starting lineup was last Monday, in the disappointing 1-1 draw against Navbahor Namangan of Uzbekistan in the Asian Champions League.

And this Thursday he was again part of the XI against Damac FC. It was supposed to be an easy game for Al-Hilal, who were the leaders of the Pro League standings and were facing one of the worst teams in the tournament. In fact, their opponents were second to last with 3 draws, 3 defeats and no wins. But things did not go as expected.

Al-Hilal started leading after 8 minutes thanks to a goal by Malcom, who received a drilled cross from the left and shot inside the box with his left foot. However, Jorge Jesus' team relaxed and began to be outplayed by their opponents, who put goalkeeper Bono in trouble on more than one occasion. Finally, 23 minutes into the second half, they scored the equaliser through Nicolae Stanciu with a beautiful free kick. And in the final minutes they came close to winning it.

Bad news

The draw cost Al-Hilal dearly, as they lost the lead in the Pro League standings. Al-Ittihad, with a goal by N'Golo Kanté, beat Al-Fateh 2-1 and are now first with 18 points, one more than Neymar's team.