Al Hilal's $210m Premier League Strikeforce Secures Victory Over Al Ittihad to Reclaim Saudi Pro League Summit

Al Hilal's trio of former Premier League forwards all made their mark on Saturday, securing a 3-2 victory against Al Ittihad to return to the summit of the league table. Over the summer, the Riyadh giants completely revamped their attacking department by securing the services of Ollie Watkins for $60m from Aston Villa, Gabriel Martinelli for $70m from Arsenal, and Crysencio Summerville for $80 million from West Ham out of the English top-flight.

All three new arrivals delivered at Kingdom Arena, as Al Ittihad were outplayed despite the narrow final scoreline. Ex-Gunners winger Martinelli broke the deadlock after 11 minutes, before England striker Watkins doubled the lead 10 minutes later to make it 2-0. Al Ittihad summer signing Youssef En-Nesyri swiftly responded with a goal, but Summerville restored the two-goal cushion by making it 3-1 shortly after the hour mark. Steven Bergwijn later converted a penalty in the closing moments to round out the scoring.

Speaking after the match, Watkins expressed satisfaction with securing the three points, though he felt he should have been credited with an additional goal after having an effort ruled out due to a questionable handball decision. He stated: “It was a high-level match, especially as we had just returned from the international break. We trained for many days, but nothing compares to playing a match at full strength.”

He added: “It was a top-of-the-table clash, and you can see how important it was to everyone. There is a lot of noise and celebrations, but the most important thing is that we took the three points, and I am very happy.” Reflecting on the disallowed effort, he said: “Honestly, I scored another goal, but unfortunately it was disallowed. I know it was a difficult decision, and I will not comment on it, but I felt it was a valid goal.”

Following this result, Al Hilal sit two points clear at the summit of the table, holding off competition from Al Qadsiah and Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr, the latter of whom secured a 3-0 victory against Diriyah on Friday night.