Hilal suffer first pre-season defeat as Somerville makes debut in loss to MC Alger

Al Hilal’s perfect pre-season record came to an end as the Saudi champions fell to a 2-0 friendly defeat against MC Alger in Austria, despite a first appearance for new Dutch signing Crysencio Summerville.

The Riyadh club were beaten for the first time in their 2026-27 build-up on Wednesday in their third warm-up match at their overseas training camp, with the Algerian Ligue 1 champions striking in each half.

Sofiane Bayazid put MC Alger in front on 30 minutes. A corner caused confusion in the Hilal penalty area and, although Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic initially cleared the ball off the goal line, Bayazid reacted quickest to return it into the unguarded net.

Mohamed Benkhemassa doubled the lead on the hour mark with a powerful long-range effort from outside the penalty area. Substitute goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Rubaie was unable to keep out the fiercely struck shot.

Shortly after the second goal, play was halted briefly when sections of the Algerian support set off smoke canisters in celebration. The interruption, reported by Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah, delayed the restart before the friendly was allowed to continue.

New faces for Hilal

The match saw first outings in Hilal colours for full-backs Mohammed Mahzari and Mohammed Al-Sirnukh following their summer moves.

Mahzari started the game after joining from Al Taawoun, while Al-Sirnukh came on as a substitute having recently completed his transfer from Al Fateh. Both were making their initial appearances for the club during the current transfer window.

There was also a long-awaited debut for winger Crysencio Summerville. The Netherlands international, signed from West Ham United, was introduced from the bench in the second half. However, he was unable to spark a comeback as Hilal failed to find a way past the Algerian champions’ defence.

Perfect run ends in Austria

Hilal had gone into the fixture on the back of two wins from two in their Austrian camp.

They opened their preparations with a 2-1 victory over Austrian side Sturm Graz before defeating South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns 2-0, keeping clean sheets in both halves of those matches.

This reverse against MC Alger was therefore their first friendly defeat ahead of the new campaign, breaking that early run of form underlined by those earlier successes.

Hilal will complete their pre-season schedule in Austria on 3 August, when they face Al Ahli of Qatar in their final friendly before returning to the Saudi capital Riyadh to continue preparations for the new season.