Al-Hilal facing the season's biggest questions: does Inzaghi know the right solution?

Al-Hilal's dominance of the ball counted for nothing. They enjoyed 63 per cent of possession without ever threatening, against Neom's 37 per cent, according to data from "SofaScore", yet it was Neom who dictated the rhythm and controlled the details of the contest, as journalist Haitham Al-Zahim noted in his report in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

Defeat here left Al-Hilal's supporters full of questions and criticism, and not just over the result. The performance troubled them too. Across the ninety minutes Al-Hilal looked confused from the first whistle, while Neom's players played with sharpness and focus, controlling the pitch in defence and attack right to the end.

More organised in everything they did, Neom moved as a unit whether in possession or dropping back to defend. Al-Hilal, by contrast, could find neither space nor solutions against that defensive structure. The possession figure told a lie, then, because Neom controlled this match far more than their opponents did.

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The figures lay bare another side of Al-Hilal's struggles. The team fashioned just one dangerous chance across the match, their lowest tally in any of their first six league games this season.

Against Al-Faisaly they created four dangerous chances. That rose to seven against Al-Khaleej, 11 against Al-Fayha, four against Al-Ahli and seven against Al-Shabab, before collapsing to a single chance against Neom.

This attacking slump reinforces what played out on the pitch. Al-Hilal never found the space to work their way to the opposition goal, and Neom held their shape right to the finish.

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The damage did not stop at Al Hilal. Neom ended Inzaghi's unbeaten run since he took charge of the team, a streak the Italian had stretched to 54 consecutive matches across all competitions, 42 wins and 12 draws since he led Al Hilal in the FIFA Club World Cup last season.

Al Hilal's league run fell too. Neom brought a 47-match unbeaten sequence to an end, one that stretched back to a 3-1 loss to Al Nassr the season before last.

The timing stings. Al Hilal had opened the season with sky-high ambitions, boosted by the reinforcements the club company's management brought in over the summer window, moves that handed the Italian coach a wealth of options.

Yet the Neom defeat revived the biggest question of all: can Inzaghi turn that glut of names into a team with multiple solutions and a personality when the opponent slams the door on the spaces?

Inzaghi took responsibility for the loss. The real answer, though, will come in the matches ahead, when Al Hilal run into sides capable of doing exactly what Neom did.

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