Kayal joined Maccabi Haifa in 2002 and made his professional debut in 2006 at the age of 18. He made 125 appearances and scored eight goals before moving to Celtic in 2010. He has received plaudits from many Scottish football pundits and was named the SPL player of the month for January 2011. In January 2015, he joined Brighton & Hove Albion where he spent 5 and a half years – including a loan spell at Charlton Athletic – helping "The Seagulls" to Premier League promotion for the first time in the club's history. Kayal made a return to Israel in November 2020 signing for Bnei Sakhnin of the Israelian top flight.