Ollie Watkins Dominates in Al-Hilal Victory

Ollie Watkins did not ease his way into life at Al-Hilal. He kicked the door down.

On a hot night in Buraidah, the England striker produced a performance that would not have looked out of place back in the Premier League, driving Al-Hilal to a dominant win over Al-Taawoun in the seventh round of the Saudi Roshn League.

The tone was set early. In the ninth minute, Ruben Neves lifted his head and sent a long, raking pass over the top. Watkins read it before anyone else. He exploded into the space, shrugged off the last defender and, one-on-one, passed the ball coolly into the corner. One touch to steady himself, one to finish. Clinical. Familiar.

That goal broke the deadlock and broke Al-Taawoun’s early resistance. From there, Al-Hilal played with the swagger of a side that knew it had a ruthless finisher leading the line.

The pressure kept building. Al-Hilal carved openings, moved the ball with authority, and forced Al-Taawoun deeper and deeper. Watkins hovered on the shoulder, waiting for his moment.

It came again in the 56th minute.

This time, there was no hopeful ball from deep. Watkins did it the hard way, surging from midfield, timing his run perfectly and slicing through the Al-Taawoun back line. Once more he found himself clear on goal, and once more the finish was simple, assured, almost casual. His side’s fifth of the night, his second. Game long gone.

That strike sealed his first brace in Al-Hilal colours since his summer move from Aston Villa, a reminder of the scoring habits he forged in England. Last season alone he produced five doubles for Villa, including back-to-back braces against Liverpool and Manchester City in the final two rounds of the Premier League campaign. This was the same script, just a different stage.

Watkins had hinted at this version of himself on his debut, when he found the net in a 3-0 win over Al-Ahli. Then came two quieter outings against Al-Shabab and Neom, matches where the goals dried up and questions inevitably started to surface.

Those questions did not last long.

In Buraidah, the 30-year-old looked every bit the complete centre-forward Al-Hilal thought they were signing: sharp in his movement, ruthless in transition, and utterly unforgiving when given space to run. If this is the level he sustains, the Roshn League may be about to witness the kind of scoring run that made him a Premier League menace.