Al-Hilal fans boo as Neymar finally makes debut following £78m PSG transfer after Brazilian caught in late penalty row
NEYMAR was subjected to jeers as he finally made his Saudi Pro League debut last night.
The former Barcelona forward left Paris Saint-Germain to sign for Al-Hilal in a £78m move this summer.
The Brazilian, who recently surpassed Pele to become his country’s all-time top scorer, came off the bench against Al-Riyadh in the second half of his team’s 6-1 victory.
Neymar was all smiles as he made his first appearance in the Middle East, but fans were left frustrated by one incident as he lined-up with fellow new recruits Aleksandr Mitrovic and Ruben Neves.
Ex-Fulham striker Mitrovic scored a first half penalty as Yasser Alshahrani, Nasser Aldawsari, Malcolm and Salem Aldawsari also found the net.
Then, in the closing stages of the game, Neymar was presented with a golden opportunity to open his account for Al-Hilal when they were awarded another spot-kick.
However, to the surprise of everybody there, it was winger Salem Aldawsari that stepped up to take it.
That decision was met by a chorus of boos around the ground as home supporters vented their fury that the big-money buy would not be on it.
Despite the crowd’s disappointment, Aldawsari scored and he was quickly joined by Neymar in the celebrations.
That result moved Al-Hilal into top spot in the league as they recorded their fifth victory out of their opening six matches.
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Meanwhile, rivals Al-Ittihad, who have the likes of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho in their ranks, are close behind in second.
Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson’s Al-Ettifaq are down in fifth while Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Al-Nassr are seventh.