Kayal suffered ankle ligament damage against Rangers on 28 December 2011 after a tackle by Lee McCulloch and was stretchered off with 13 minutes to play. Celtic won the match 1–0 which sent them top of the SPL table. The injury put Kayal out of action for over four months and he returned to the side only in the last game of the season, a 5–0 win over Hearts. Later, Kayal accused McCulloch of deliberately injuring him that he "have not forgotten that for a moment."