Yassine Bounou conceded twice in Al Hilal’s opening Saudi Pro League match for the first time since joining the club, despite the side beginning their campaign with an entertaining 4-2 victory over Al Faisaly on Friday.
The Morocco goalkeeper started the match at the heart of Al Hilal’s defence but was unable to preserve his record of keeping a clean sheet in every opening-day league appearance for the club. His team-mates scored four times to secure all three points, although the two goals conceded represented an unusual setback for a player who has regularly provided Al Hilal with defensive security.
Bounou arrived at Al Hilal in the summer of 2023 and had recorded a shutout in each of his first three Saudi Pro League season openers.
In his first campaign, he helped Al Hilal defeat Al-Raed 4-0. The following season, the club began with a 3-0 win against Al Okhdood, with Bounou again keeping the opposition scoreless. His most recent opening fixture before Friday’s match ended with another clean sheet, as Al Hilal beat Al Riyadh 2-0.
That sequence came to an end against Al Faisaly, who found the net twice in a match in which Al Hilal’s attacking strength ultimately proved decisive. The result nevertheless gave the club a positive start to the new league season and delivered the first three points of their campaign.
Bounou remains one of the key figures in Al Hilal’s squad, and the result did not change his status as one of the team’s most important players. However, the goals conceded will give the goalkeeper and the defenders in front of him areas to address before their next fixtures.
The match therefore carried two contrasting messages for Bounou. He celebrated a winning start with Al Hilal, but also saw a long-standing personal record disappear. For the first time since moving to the club, he conceded twice in Al Hilal’s opening Saudi Pro League game.
The result also continued Al Hilal’s strong attacking start, with four goals securing victory in a match that produced six in total. Despite the defensive concerns raised by Al Faisaly’s goals, the reigning strength of Al Hilal’s forward play ensured that the team left with a winning beginning to their league campaign.
Bounou’s previous opening-day performances had set a particularly high standard. Across the three earlier seasons, Al Hilal had not only won each of those first league matches but had done so without allowing a goal. Friday’s 4-2 scoreline brought that run to an end while preserving the most important outcome for the club: victory and the first available points of the season.
