Al Hilal waste chance to extend lead after Edouard Mendy’s costly mistake

Edouard Mendy handed Al Hilal a remarkable opportunity to move further ahead against Al Ahli after an unusual error in Tuesday’s Roshn Saudi League meeting at Kingdom Arena.

The match was being played as a rearranged fixture from the third round of the domestic competition, with Al Hilal hosting Al Ahli in the evening.

Al Hilal were already 2-0 in front when the incident occurred in the 32nd minute. Al Ahli were attempting to pass the ball out from in front of their penalty area and build an organised attack, but Al Hilal applied intense pressure to disrupt their efforts.

Under that pressure, Ziyad Al-Juhani played the ball back towards his goalkeeper. Mendy appeared expected to clear it away, but instead of striking the ball upfield, the Al Ahli goalkeeper picked it up.

The referee immediately awarded Al Hilal a free-kick inside the penalty area for the handling offence.

It presented the home side with an opportunity to score a third goal and put the match beyond Al Ahli’s reach at an early stage. The incident also left Mendy facing criticism for a mistake that had placed his team in serious danger.

Al Hilal set up for the unusual free-kick from inside the box and executed the routine cleverly. Theo Hernandez took responsibility for the strike, but his effort travelled narrowly wide of the post.

The chance went begging, meaning Al Hilal were unable to take advantage of Mendy’s lapse despite having been presented with an excellent opening. Had the attempt found the target, it would have further strengthened their position in a match they were already controlling on the scoreboard.

The video of the incident showed Al Ahli’s players trying to play through Al Hilal’s press before the ball was returned to Mendy. The goalkeeper’s decision to handle it, rather than clear it under pressure, led directly to the free-kick and brought a tense moment inside Al Ahli’s penalty area.

The accompanying footage also captured the execution of Al Hilal’s set-piece, with Theo Hernandez’s shot passing close to the upright.

At the time of the opportunity, Al Hilal’s two-goal advantage remained intact. A third goal would have been likely to settle the contest much earlier, but the missed chance left Al Ahli still within reach of a possible response.

The fixture had brought together two of Saudi Arabia’s prominent clubs at Kingdom Arena, with Al Hilal seeking to make their advantage count and Al Ahli attempting to recover after falling two goals behind. Mendy’s error briefly gave the hosts an ideal route to increase that lead, but Theo Hernandez was unable to finish the opportunity.