JEDDAH, 21 October 2007 — The 7th round of the Saudi Football League ended with no surprises as Al-Ittihad remained at the top of the table. Al-Ahli also ended their poor run of matches by blanking Al-Taie 2-0 on Friday.

In Riyadh, Al-Shabab suffered a shocking defeat against Al-Hazem 2-1 on Thursday. That put Shabab’s winning streak to a halt and prevented the team from moving up.

The defeat dropped Shabab back to fifth place with eight points from two wins, two defeats and two draws.

Al-Hazem advanced to fourth position with eight points from two wins, three defeats and two draws. Al-Nasr continued their march after defeating Wehda 1-0 in Riyadh on Thursday. It was a crucial win as it enabled Nasr to increase their tally to eight points and advanced to the fifth position, in a tie with Shabab on equal points, wins, defeats and draws.

In contrast to their amazing performance last season, Al-Wehda continued to agonize in the competition as they slid to the ninth position with six points from two wins and three defeats, after going down to their third consecutive loss. Luck finally smiled on struggling Al-Hilal when it struck down Al-Qadisiya 4-2 in Alkhobar on Thursday.

Following their crucial win, Al-Hilal club decided to reward each player with SR5,000 as a token of appreciation. With the addition of three points, Hilal moved up to eighth place with six points from two wins and one loss. Al-Qadisiya’s fate is in jeopardy if the team does not shape up in time. Qadisiya are the league’s cellar dwellers with only one point from one draw and five defeats.

Ittihad continued to enjoy an excellent season thus far with six wins after defeating Al-Ittifaq in a vital match in Jeddah on Thursday. Ittihad now have 19 points, while Ittifaq are second with 12 points from four wins and one defeat.

Ittihad test their mettle next Thursday when they play city rivals Ahli in a potentially explosive derby match.

By stemming the rot, Ahli made peace with their fans. The three points were crucial for Ahli if only for them to avoid sinking further after they had lost 9 points in just four matches.

Ahli, however, still have a lot of work to do in 10th position with 6 points from two wins and three defeats, while Taie dropped to 11th with only 3 points from three draws and two defeats.