Ollie Watkins Shines in Al-Hilal Debut with Brace Against Al-Taawoun

Ollie Watkins needed one night to announce himself in Saudi Arabia. One ruthless, familiar night.

Al-Hilal’s new striker tore into Al-Taawoun in Buraidah, producing the kind of performance that once lit up his Premier League evenings and now threatens to reshape the Saudi Roshn League narrative.

The visitors arrived for this seventh-round clash with expectation, not certainty. Watkins ended that debate inside nine minutes.

Ruben Neves launched a long, raking pass from midfield, the sort of ball that begs for a willing runner. Watkins didn’t hesitate. He burst through the middle, outpaced the back line and, with the calm of a man who has lived this moment a hundred times before, slid his finish past the goalkeeper to break the deadlock.

One chance. One goal. Statement made.

Al-Hilal turned the screw and the scoreline swelled, and when the game opened up after the break, Watkins went hunting again. By the 56th minute, he had his second of the night and his team’s fifth.

This time it was all about the run. Driving from midfield, he sliced through the heart of the Al-Taawoun defence, timing his movement perfectly to go clean through on goal. The finish was simple, almost casual, the product of years of repetition at the highest level.

First brace in Al-Hilal blue. Same old Ollie Watkins.

The double carried a familiar echo. At 30, he was replaying the script he wrote so often with Aston Villa, where he collected five braces in the Premier League last season alone, including back-to-back doubles against Liverpool and Manchester City in the final two rounds. Those performances cemented his reputation as a striker who thrives when the stakes rise.

Now that instinct has travelled with him.

Watkins had already opened his Al-Hilal account with a goal on debut in a clean 3-0 win over Al-Ahli, then hit a brief bump with goalless outings against Al-Shabab and Neom. Any hint of a slow start vanished in Buraidah.

This was the night the England striker’s Saudi chapter truly caught fire.