JEDDAH, 31 March 2008 — Al-Ittihad settled for a 1-1 temporizing draw with Al-Shabab as they closed in on the title in round 20 of the Saudi Football League at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium yesterday.
Shabab’s Naif Al-Ghadi scored on a header five minutes after Kita gave Ittihad a 1-0 lead in the 70th minute to pave the way for the stalemate.
Fortunately for Ittihad the team still with a mathematical chance of overtaking them at the top, Al-Hilal, failed to gain ground on them after they also drew 1-1 with Al-Ittifaq in Dammam. Hilal were under heavy pressure to secure the win against Ittifaq as they still have a tough home and away pending match against Shabab.
The final round sees Ittihad coming face to face with Hilal on April 13. There were no further surprises in the other matches except Nasr’s 1-0 defeat against Al-Qadisia in Riyadh. Al-Ahli failed to secure the game’s three points against Wehda in Makkah in a 1-0 defeat that extended their poor performance this season.
Al-Watani defeated Al-Hazem in Tabuk 2-1 and Najran tied against Al-Taie in Najran 2-2. Ittihad remain on top with 48 points with one match to play against Hilal. Hilal are second with 43 points. Shabab are third with 37 points and two pending matches against Hilal and the last round game against Al-Watani. Wehda jumped to fourth position with 29 points. Nasr are fifth with 29 points, Ittifaq sixth 28 points, Ahli seventh 25 points, Watani eighth with 24 points, Al-Hazem ninth 23 points, Najran 10th 15 points, Qadisia 11th 10 points and Taie 12th and last 9 points.
