Gabriel Martinelli's Hat-Trick Signals Arrival at Al-Hilal
Gabriel Martinelli needed this. Al-Hilal needed this. In Buraidah, on a hot Saudi evening in the seventh round of the Roshn League, the Brazilian finally ripped the weight off his shoulders with a ruthless hat-trick that announced his arrival in blue.
Eight months without a club hat-trick. Seven months without a club goal. All of that vanished in 32 blistering minutes against Al-Taawoun.
Drought over, statement made
Martinelli’s night truly started in the 18th minute. Al-Hilal were already probing when a loose ball dropped inside the penalty area. The Brazilian reacted first, pouncing on the rebound and steering it calmly into the net. No fuss, no flourish. Just a finish of a forward who has seen this picture a thousand times before, but hadn’t been able to frame it since leaving Arsenal in the summer.
It was his first goal for Al-Hilal, arriving in only his third appearance since the move from north London. It carried far more than a number on a scoresheet. This was his first club goal in seven months, his first league strike in almost a year.
The numbers tell the story. His last club goals for Arsenal came back on 15 February, in a 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic in the fourth round of the FA Cup. At league level, he had not scored since 21 September 2025, in a 1-1 draw with Manchester City in the Premier League’s fifth round. In between, just a single goal – for Brazil – in the 2-1 win over Japan in the round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
For a player of his energy and ambition, that gap felt like an eternity.
Watkins, Summerville and a ruthless partner in crime
Once the first one went in, the tension snapped. The movement sharpened. The runs grew bolder.
In the 43rd minute, Martinelli struck again. English forward Ollie Watkins slid a clever through ball into space, and the Brazilian exploded onto it. One burst of pace, one look up, one cool finish. Suddenly, it was three for Al-Hilal and two for their new No. 11 on the night. The understanding with his new team-mates, still in its infancy, flickered into life in that single passage.
The pressure on Al-Taawoun did not ease after the break. It intensified.
Five minutes into the second half, Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville darted down the flank and drilled a low cross into the box. Martinelli arrived right on cue, sweeping the ball home with minimum fuss in the 50th minute to complete his hat-trick. The finish was simple; the significance was anything but.
This was his first hat-trick for Al-Hilal, and his first at club level in eight months. The last time he walked off with a match ball came on 11 January, when he scored three in Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Portsmouth in the third round of the FA Cup.
From slow start to liftoff
Martinelli’s start in Saudi Arabia had been cautious rather than explosive. He made his debut off the bench in the 2-0 win over Al-Shabab in the fifth round of the Roshn League, then earned a start in the 2-0 defeat to Neom without finding the net.
Those two games hinted at a player still adjusting – to a new country, a new league, a new role. In Buraidah, the adjustment phase ended.
Three goals, each different in its construction, but all stamped with the same message: Gabriel Martinelli is here now, and the long silence is over.
