Yassine Bounou concedes twice as Morocco star’s Al-Hilal record comes to an end

Yassine Bounou conceded twice in Al-Hilal’s 4-2 victory over Al-Faisaly on Friday, ending the Moroccan goalkeeper’s remarkable record of keeping a clean sheet in every opening match of his Saudi Pro League campaign.

Bounou started between the posts as Al-Hilal began their new league campaign with three points, but the two goals conceded marked an unusual start for the experienced Morocco international.

Since joining Al-Hilal in 2023, Bounou had never conceded in the club’s opening league fixture.

Bounou’s perfect record comes to an end

In his first season with Al-Hilal, Bounou helped the club open their campaign with a 4-0 victory over Al-Raed while keeping a clean sheet.

The following season brought another shutout as Al-Hilal defeated Al-Akhdoud 3-0, while Bounou again kept his goal intact in the club’s opening league fixture last season when they beat Al-Riyadh 2-0.

That sequence ended against Al-Faisaly, despite Al-Hilal producing another strong attacking display to secure a four-goal victory.

The two goals conceded mean Bounou has now failed to preserve his opening-day clean-sheet record for the first time since moving to Saudi Arabia.

Al-Hilal still make winning start

Despite the setback to his personal record, Bounou remains an important part of Al-Hilal’s squad and the result gave the club an encouraging start to their league campaign.

The victory means attention will now turn to improving the defensive performance after Al-Faisaly exposed weaknesses that had not been evident in Bounou’s previous opening-day appearances.

For the Morocco international, the match provided a rare contrast: he celebrated another Al-Hilal victory but also saw a record that had stood since his arrival in Saudi Arabia finally come to an end.