Ollie Watkins marked his debut with a goal as Al-Hilal maintained their perfect start to their Saudi Pro League campaign with a 3-0 win over 10-man Al-Ahli.

After joining from Aston Villa three days earlier, Watkins got himself on the scoresheet in the 86th minute to help Al-Hilal leapfrog Al-Nassr at the top of the table. 

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Crysencio Summerville were also on target for Al-Hilal, who swept aside Al-Ahli after they saw Merih Demiral sent off at the end of the first half. 

Al-Hilal needed just nine minutes to take the lead through Milinkovic-Savic, who finished into the bottom-left corner after being slipped into the box by Sultan Mandash. 

Simone Inzaghi's side pulled further clear in the 23rd minute when Summerville collected Ruben Neves' pass in the area before he rifled a left-footed drive in at the near post. 

Things went from bad to worse for Al-Ahli in first-half stoppage time when Demiral, who had received his first yellow card for arguing with the referee just moments earlier, was sent off for a late challenge on Summerville. 

But it was the visitors who started brightly in the second half, with Ivan Toney's sensational volley at the back post from Eduard Spertsyan's free-kick striking the right post. 

Watkins was brought on at half-time for his Al-Hilal debut, and he came close to making an instant impact, but his headed attempt past Edouard Mendy was ruled out for offside.

But the England international was not to be denied, with Watkins sealing the win four minutes from time with a header that clipped the post after being picked out by Mandash. 

Summerville scores again as Watkins makes instant impact

After failing to register a goal involvement in his first two Pro League outings, Summerville has hit his stride in Saudi Arabia. He has now managed two goals and two assists in his last two outings in the competition, and he could have added even more to his tally. 

Summerville is now level with the most goal contributions in the division this season, with three of those being his Al-Hilal team-mates in Milinkovic-Savic, Mandash and Neves, with the latter pulling the strings in midfield.

Neves finished with team-high totals for touches (93), accurate passes (59), passes in the final third (30), chances created (three), crosses (seven) and duels won (seven), while also registering his second league assist in 2026-27. 

But it was a debut to remember for Watkins, who completed his reported £50m move to Al-Hilal from Villa at the end of last week. No player for the hosts had more shots (three) or touches in the opposition box (five) than Watkins, and he will be keen to continue that momentum. 

However, Al-Hilal were caught off guard a few times after Demiral's red card, but ultimately made their man advantage count. They finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.99 from their 12 shots to Al-Ahli's 1.27 from one more attempt.