JEDDAH, 5 February 2007 — After a one-month hiatus due to the Gulf Cup in UAE and Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup, the Saudi Football League resumed yesterday with two matches — one each in Makkah and Al-Rass.
In Makkah, Al-Ahli’s test match against Wehda before the final against Ittihad next Friday ended in a 1-0 defeat.
Ahli’s sloppy performance puts into question the team’s readiness for the big one against Ittihad. Wehda striker Vladimir received a nice pass behind Ahli defender Ali Al-Abdali inside the penalty box pass to begin the sequence that led to the only goal of the match. The pass was converted into a nice low shot past the right hand side of Ahli goalie who could not stop the ball from going in the back of the net.
Ahli pushed forward in search of at least an equalizer and one point. All the efforts were met by a strong and well-organized Wehda defense.
With the game three points Wehda took their tally to 32 points equal with Hilal who are in first place on goal difference.
Ahli froze in fifth place with 18 points and they are in a tight fix now that the gap between Ahli and the fourth placed Shabab increased to eight points.
In Al-Rass, Al-Nasr raised more questions than answers after the team’s another indifferent performance in an expected 2-1 defeat against Al-Hazem 2-1.
Fahd Al-Subaie and Fernando scored for Al-Hazem in the minutes 11 and 42 of the first half that ended 2-0 in favor of Al-Hazem.
Denilson’s goal for Nasr in the second half did not improve the team’s performance against Al-Hazem. Nasr were paralyzed for most of the match and could not deliver at least a point to escape from the danger zone. Nasr dropped to 11th position with 11 points as they all but kissed their final four hopes goodbye.
