Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly was involved in one of the most unusual moments of Al-Hilal’s 5-1 victory over Al-Khaleej after accidentally handling the ball inside his own penalty area during a goal kick.
The incident happened in the 64th minute of Friday’s Saudi Pro League meeting at the Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium, when Koulibaly appeared unaware that the ball had already been put into play.
Al-Hilal goalkeeper Yassine Bounou had rolled the ball out from the goal line towards Koulibaly as the visitors attempted to restart play.
Koulibaly then picked up the ball with his hands, apparently believing the goal kick had not yet been taken.
Referee Istvan Kovacs immediately awarded a penalty to Al-Khaleej, despite protests from Al-Hilal.
The decision created an extraordinary situation for the Senegal international, who had seemingly been caught out by the restart rather than deliberately attempting to handle the ball.
Al-Khaleej were handed an opportunity to reduce the deficit, but Bounou came to Al-Hilal’s rescue by saving Musa Barrow’s penalty.
The miss meant Koulibaly’s mistake did not have a significant impact on the final result, with Al-Hilal eventually completing a convincing 5-1 victory.
The incident was particularly notable because Kovacs was the referee involved in a similar controversy during last season’s Champions League quarter-final first leg between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
On that occasion, Kovacs did not award a comparable decision, but this time he had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot.
The unusual sequence began with Bounou’s attempt to restart the game quickly. The Moroccan goalkeeper played the ball towards Koulibaly, who was positioned inside the penalty area.
Rather than controlling the pass, Koulibaly picked up the ball with his hands and attempted to reposition it, apparently thinking the restart had not properly begun.
Under the referee’s interpretation, however, the ball was already in play once Bounou had passed it.
Koulibaly was therefore penalised and Al-Khaleej were awarded the spot-kick.
Fortunately for the former Chelsea and Napoli defender, Bounou prevented the error from becoming more costly by keeping out Barrow’s effort.
The penalty incident was one of the few moments in which Al-Khaleej threatened to disrupt an otherwise dominant performance from Al-Hilal.
Al-Hilal had already taken firm control of the match before the second-half incident, scoring five times in the opening 45 minutes.
M. Meïté opened the scoring after 15 minutes before S. Milinković-Savić doubled the advantage in the 29th minute.
Al-Khaleej responded through Saleh Al Amri in the 38th minute, but the hosts’ hopes of recovering were quickly extinguished.
T. Hernández restored Al-Hilal’s two-goal advantage in the 40th minute, with C. Summerville adding another three minutes later.
Sultan Mandash then made it 5-1 in first-half stoppage time.
That emphatic start ultimately ensured that the penalty conceded by Koulibaly would remain a strange footnote rather than a turning point in the match.
