Video: A precious gift for Al-Nassr: Neom stun Al-Hilal with a historic defeat

An unexpected defeat

Neom dealt Al-Hilal a heavy blow on Monday evening, inflicting the leaders' first Roshn League defeat of the season with a 2-0 win in the sixth round of the competition.

This was a historic victory. By toppling the table-toppers and ending their perfect start, Neom have handed their rivals, chief among them Al-Nassr, a precious chance to close the gap at the top.

Koulibaly throws Al-Hilal into disarray

Al-Hilal went into the match in high spirits after five straight wins, but a surprise blow arrived before kick-off. Yassine Bounou pulled up injured in the warm-up, forcing Mohammed Al-Owais to take his place in goal.

The blues never found their rhythm. Neom stayed tight and organised at the back, closing the spaces in front of Al-Hilal's stars and choking off their usual threat.

Disaster struck in the 15th minute. Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly turned the ball into his own net by mistake, an own goal that handed Neom the lead and disrupted Al-Hilal's plans early on.

Stung, the leaders tried to hit straight back. They ran into a disciplined defence instead, firing most of their efforts from outside the box without ever troubling the Neom goal, as fortune deserted Sultan Al-Ghannam and Krisencio Summerville in their attempts.

Coné doubles the shock

Al-Hilal suffered another blow before the break. Mohammed Al-Owais came off his line badly, the ball dropped into the penalty area, and Neom pounced on the defensive confusion for Amadou Kone to net a second in the 44th minute.

Two unanswered goals down at the interval, Al-Hilal now faced a difficult task to turn the match around in the second half.

Ineffective Al-Hilal attempts

Simone Inzaghi rang the changes in the second half, throwing on Nasser Al-Dawsari, Sultan Mandash and Mohamed Kader Meite to sharpen the attack and drag Al-Hilal back into the contest.

Gabriel Martinelli should have pulled one back in the 50th minute. Clean through on Neom's goal, he fluffed his lines. Three minutes later Ruben Neves curled a shot just wide of the left post.

Marcin Bulka took centre stage again in the 65th minute, brilliantly keeping out a dangerous header from Ollie Watkins inside the box and snuffing out Al-Hilal's hopes of a way back. The Polish keeper stayed on top form throughout, repelling everything Al-Hilal threw at him after the break.

Neom tightened their grip once those chances went begging, holding firm until the final whistle to claim a precious 2-0 win.

A painful blow for Al-Hilal, and a gift for Al-Nassr

Al Hilal's tally froze on 15 points as they slipped to their first defeat in the Roshn League this season, ending a run of five straight wins. Neom, meanwhile, climbed to 12 points with a fourth victory in the competition.

This one stings for Al Hilal. It's their first domestic loss since Italian Simone Inzaghi took charge of the Leader at the start of last season, and it halts a perfect run in its tracks.

Al Nassr could hardly have asked for a better gift. Sitting on 12 points going into the round, they can cut the gap to the leaders to just one point if they beat Abha on Wednesday.